Thousands of people with severe depression could obtain urgent relief if experimental treatment using ketamine were made more widely available, medical experts say, according to The Guardian. 

The drug has been championed by doctors and psychiatrists as a potentially life-changing treatment for those with depression who are resistant to medication or suicidally depressed. Medics are calling for more specialists centres and trials to be set up to explore the drug’s potential under controlled conditions.

“We need more money so we can use the drug more widely in medical research as we believe it has potential to be transformational in providing urgent care,” said Michael Bloomfield, clinical lecturer in psychiatry at University College London.

“There is enormous interest and excitement in the field about the potential therapeutic effects of ketamine for severe depression. While the drug has been around for decades as an anaesthetic, the science of it as a treatment for severe depression has only really taken off in this century,” he added.