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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

SO284

Clinical experiences and perceptions of ketamine treatment for depression among psychiatrists in Sweden: a multiregional interview study

CLINICAL EXPERIENCES AND PERCEPTIONS OF KETAMINE TREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION AMONG PSYCHIATRISTS IN SWEDEN: A MULTI-REGIONAL INTERVIEW SURVEY

Swedish clinicians view ketamine as a rapid-acting option for treatment-resistant depression, but one whose effects are often temporary and which serves as a bridge rather than a long-term solution.

The aim is to examine clinicians’ perspectives on the use of intravenous racemic ketamine in routine psychiatric care, its perceived benefits and risks, and the importance of the subjective ketamine experience. Intravenous racemic ketamine has been used off-label for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in Sweden since 2015. The method consists of semi-structured interviews with clinicians experienced in ketamine treatment; the poster states that participants were psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses involved in ketamine treatment, representing seven clinical centers across six Swedish regions, with 2 to 9 years of experience with ketamine and several hundred patients treated collectively; interview summaries were reviewed by the participating clinicians. The predominant protocol involves intravenous administration of 0.5 mg/kg, generally 2 to 3 times a week, commonly with 4 to 8 initial sessions. Clinicians reported observing rapid symptom reduction, sometimes even after the first infusion, but noted that benefits often lasted from days to a few weeks and waned without subsequent treatment; the abstract gives estimated antidepressant response rates of approximately 20% to 50%. The most common acute adverse effects were dissociation, nausea, and anxiety, with most reactions manageable through supportive measures or by pausing the infusion. Reported clinical dilemmas include patterns of drug-seeking and escapism, early relapse following rapid improvement, passive maintenance strategies that delay other treatments, and gaps in knowledge about long-term safety and repeated infusions; there is no consensus on dissociation, with some clinicians considering it solely an adverse effect affecting tolerability, while others associated the absence of dissociation during infusion with a poorer clinical response. In conclusion, ketamine is regarded as a valuable but limited intervention, with careful patient selection, realistic expectations, structured follow-up, and integration with other treatments recommended; the poster’s take-home message is that rapid relief does not equate to lasting recovery.

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