‘I have a life back’: How ketamine therapy is helping these Nova Scotians find relief from depression
Sherri Topple’s decades-long battle with depression finally took a turn for the better when she tried ketamine therapy. The Nova Scotia woman had struggled with severe depression for years, feeling weighed down by the crushing weight of her condition. No medication or therapy seemed to provide the relief she so desperately needed. At her lowest point, even the simple act of taking a shower felt like an insurmountable task.
“It was like I couldn’t even reach for the shampoo bottle. I would just stand there under the water, crying and wondering what was wrong with me,” Topple shared. But everything changed after she participated in a clinical trial at Dalhousie University and received five doses of ketamine back in January. Suddenly, she found herself enjoying activities like painting, gardening, and writing – hobbies that were once out of reach during her darkest days.
Ketamine, a fast-acting anesthetic used in medical and veterinary settings, has emerged as a promising treatment for severe depression that has proven resistant to other forms of therapy. In Nova Scotia, approximately 20 patients have undergone ketamine therapy since March 2023, according to the province’s health authority. Dr. Abraham Nunes, a psychiatrist at the QEII Health Sciences Centre, oversees the program and has seen firsthand the transformative effects of ketamine therapy on patients like Topple.
“It’s quite remarkable how it can work, even for people who’ve been depressed for so long. It provides them with hope that there is something that can be done,” Nunes explained. While ketamine is often associated with its recreational use as a club drug, when administered in a controlled, medically supervised environment, it is considered safe and effective for treating depression.
Despite the positive outcomes observed in patients like Topple and Lisa Herritt, who has also benefited from ketamine therapy, funding limitations pose a significant barrier to expanding access to this treatment in Nova Scotia. Currently, the program at the QEII Health Sciences Centre operates on a compassionate basis due to resource constraints. The QEII Foundation is working to raise funds to hire additional staff and expand the program to serve more patients.
While some patients, like Herritt, have sought treatment at private clinics due to the unavailability of publicly funded options, the need for greater accessibility to ketamine therapy is clear. Herritt, who struggled with depression for over two decades before finding relief through ketamine, believes that this treatment should be made more widely available to those who need it.
Both Topple and Herritt are advocates for making ketamine therapy a funded option within Nova Scotia’s public health system. They believe that providing access to this treatment could not only alleviate the suffering of individuals battling treatment-resistant depression but also result in cost savings for the healthcare system in the long run.
As discussions around the integration of ketamine therapy into Nova Scotia’s healthcare system continue, patients like Topple and Herritt remain hopeful for a future where this life-changing treatment is accessible to all who need it. Their stories serve as a reminder of the profound impact that innovative treatments like ketamine can have on individuals struggling with mental illness.
