Inside the Big Sky Ketamine Care clinic in Missoula, Montana, a woman relaxes in a leather recliner as soothing classical music pipes through the speakers. She watches nature scenes flicker across a TV screen as a low dose of ketamine drips into her arm for 40 minutes. A nurse monitors vitals and sits beside the woman as her mind drifts — and hopefully heals.
The Montana business is just one example of the recent boom in ketamine treatment, which uses a sedative also known as an animal tranquilizer or a club drug nicknamed “Special K.”
This alternative therapy option for treating mood disorders has grown in popularity as patients and medical providers look to fast-acting options for the 264 million people worldwide who suffer from depression.
It’s the only legal psychedelic currently available in the U.S., though psilocybin was recently legalized for therapy in Oregon. Providers and many researchers say ketamine can alleviate anxiety or depression symptoms, including suicidality, in a matter of hours; commonly prescribed oral antidepressants, like Zoloft or Prozac, on the other hand, often take weeks before they kick-in.
