Ketamine Infusion Therapy as an Effective Psychedelic Treatment for Bipolar Depression

Graycen Bozard

Bipolar depressive disorder is a mood disorder characterized by mood swings from profound depression to extreme euphoria. Depression and suicidality are the leading causes of disability worldwide. Those who suffer from bipolar disorder may experience periods of anhedonia, mania, or psychosis. While there is no single cure for depression of any kind many different therapies have been explored including, most recently, psychedelic therapy through ketamine infusions. While it is not yet entirely clear how ketamine works on a pathophysiologic level within the brain, one likely target for ketamine is the N-methyl-asparte receptors in the brain. By binding to these receptors' ketamine appears to increase the amount of neurotransmitter, glutamate, between neurons. It has been hypothesized that glutamate-induced over-activation of extra synaptic NMDA receptors in the area of the cerebral cortex called Broadmann area 25 plays an important role in the etiology of depression and may be responsible for the high incidence rate of co-morbid depression.

• Graycen Bozard graduated from Chapin High School and is a junior nursing major She is a member of the lander University Honors college and the Honors college Leadership Council. Graycen plans to graduate in may of 2024 and hopes to become a trauma nurse in the future.