Esketamine Nasal Spray Outperforms Quetiapine in Latest Treatment-Resistant Depression Trials

20 Comments

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  joe balak

  March 22, 2024 AT 20:05
  This is huge. Esketamine works. Period.
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  Tatiana Mathis

  March 24, 2024 AT 15:27
  The real win here isn't just the remission numbers-it's that esketamine offers a path to sustained recovery without the cognitive fog that comes with antipsychotics like quetiapine. For years, we've been stuck choosing between partial relief and sedation. Now we have something that actually restores function. This isn't just another drug-it's a redefinition of what treatment can look like for people who've been through the wringer.
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  Nishigandha Kanurkar

  March 25, 2024 AT 12:59
  Of course they say it's safe... they're all in the pocket of Janssen! They're hiding the real side effects-brain rot, dissociative episodes, and the fact that it's just ketamine repackaged to make Big Pharma billions. They don't want you to know this is just chemical lobotomy with a nasal spray! The FDA is corrupt, the trials are rigged, and they're pushing this on vulnerable people because it's profitable!!!
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  Sara Allen

  March 25, 2024 AT 19:14
  i mean i get it but like... why not just try therapy first? like i know its hard but this feels like we're just drugging everyone now. my cousin took this and she said she felt like she was floating outta her body for hours. not exactly my idea of a good tuesday.
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  Neal Burton

  March 26, 2024 AT 18:16
  The data is statistically significant, yes-but let’s not confuse efficacy with therapeutic elegance. Esketamine’s mechanism bypasses neuroplasticity; it forces a transient state of altered perception that may mimic remission without resolving underlying trauma or cognitive distortions. We’re treating symptoms with a sledgehammer while ignoring the architecture of the illness. The long-term neuroadaptive consequences remain uncharted territory, and the reliance on repeated dosing suggests dependency, not cure.
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  Ryan Tanner

  March 28, 2024 AT 07:36
  This is the kind of news that gives people hope again. 💪 For so long, the only options were ‘try another SSRI’ or ‘live with it.’ Now there’s a real shot. If this helps even 1 in 4 people who’ve given up, it’s worth it. Keep pushing for access, keep fighting stigma.
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  Amina Kmiha

  March 29, 2024 AT 22:32
  And yet... they still require you to sit in a clinic for 2 hours after each dose? 🤔 Coincidence? Or is this just another way to monetize suffering? You pay for the drug, you pay for the monitoring, you pay for the ‘safe space.’ Meanwhile, your insurance won’t cover therapy. Someone’s making bank while you’re stuck in a waiting room with a tissue box and a nurse who won’t make eye contact. #CorporateHealthcare
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  Cornelle Camberos

  March 30, 2024 AT 09:54
  The trial design is methodologically flawed. The absence of a placebo in the quetiapine arm introduces significant bias. Furthermore, the exclusion of patients with comorbid substance use disorders-common in TRD-renders the results non-representative of the broader population. This is not a paradigm shift; it is a marketing campaign dressed in peer-reviewed clothing.
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  Sonia Festa

  April 1, 2024 AT 09:23
  so esketamine’s the new magic bullet? cool. now who’s gonna pay for it when my insurance says ‘nope, we’re still not covering that unless you’ve tried 17 other drugs and cried in front of a therapist three times’? also, anyone else feel like we’re just swapping one kind of hell for another? one’s sedation, the other’s ‘i think my soul left my body for 45 minutes’.
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  Jessica Adelle

  April 1, 2024 AT 23:06
  It is unconscionable that a substance with potential for abuse is being promoted as a first-line treatment for depression. This is not medicine; it is a dangerous precedent. We are normalizing dissociative experiences in vulnerable populations under the guise of innovation. Where is the moral responsibility? Where is the caution?
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  Vrinda Bali

  April 3, 2024 AT 00:25
  This is not science-it is a controlled experiment in social engineering. The pharmaceutical industry has spent decades conditioning us to believe that depression is a chemical imbalance. Now, they offer a nasal spray that makes you feel like you’re in a psychedelic rave. But who benefits? The patients? Or the shareholders? The fact that this was tested across 24 countries is not evidence of global relevance-it is evidence of a global profit strategy.
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  John Rendek

  April 3, 2024 AT 23:07
  Good news for people who’ve been told there’s nothing left. This isn’t a cure, but it’s a lifeline. Let’s make sure it’s accessible, not a luxury.
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  Tamara Kayali Browne

  April 5, 2024 AT 02:06
  The statistical superiority of esketamine over quetiapine is undeniable, with a relative risk reduction of 53.4% in remission rates at week 8. However, the clinical significance remains ambiguous without effect size metrics, number needed to treat (NNT), and quality-of-life outcomes. Furthermore, the open-label design for the comparator group introduces selection bias, potentially inflating the perceived efficacy of esketamine. A meta-analysis of longitudinal data is required before policy changes are implemented.
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  Michelle Lyons

  April 6, 2024 AT 11:26
  They say it’s safe... but what about the long-term? What happens after 5 years? Are we just creating a generation of people who need this spray to feel normal? And why is no one talking about the fact that ketamine was originally developed as a battlefield anesthetic? We’re giving people a drug designed to numb soldiers... and calling it mental health care. Something’s off.
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  Ted Carr

  April 6, 2024 AT 11:34
  Ah yes, the American way: take a drug that makes you feel like you’re on Mars, then charge $1,000 for the privilege. Meanwhile, in Germany, they’re prescribing hiking and group therapy. We don’t need more sprays-we need more humanity.
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  Emily Barfield

  April 7, 2024 AT 03:46
  The real question isn’t whether esketamine works-it’s what it reveals about our collective failure to treat depression as a human experience. We have reduced existential suffering to a biochemical equation, then sold the solution as a nasal spray. We’ve turned healing into a transaction. The fact that we celebrate a 27% remission rate as a triumph speaks volumes: we’ve lowered our expectations so far that anything that moves the needle is hailed as a miracle. But is this healing-or just temporary distraction?
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  Sai Ahmed

  April 7, 2024 AT 16:12
  I don't trust this. Why is this only being tested in rich countries? What about people in India or Nigeria who can't even afford antidepressants? This isn't progress-it's exclusion disguised as innovation. They're not trying to help everyone-they're trying to sell to the ones who can pay.
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  Albert Schueller

  April 7, 2024 AT 19:07
  The study's methodology is suspect. The primary endpoint was remission at week 8-but what about relapse rates beyond 32 weeks? And why were patients who discontinued treatment still included in the analysis? This is cherry-picking. Also, the term 'minimal serious complications' is dangerously vague. Minimal? For whom? The data is manipulated. This is not science. It's corporate propaganda.
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  Lori Johnson

  April 8, 2024 AT 08:18
  I’m so glad this is getting attention. My sister tried everything-ECT, five different SSRIs, TMS, even a ketogenic diet-and nothing worked. She started esketamine last month and for the first time in 12 years, she smiled at breakfast. I know it’s not perfect, but sometimes ‘good enough’ is the most radical thing you can offer someone who’s been told there’s no hope.
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  Iván Maceda

  April 8, 2024 AT 13:55
  🇺🇸 This is American innovation at its best. We don’t just treat depression-we redefine it. Other countries are still stuck in the 1990s with talk therapy and SSRIs. We’re giving people a tool that actually works. Let them have their herbal teas and yoga mats-we’ve got science. 🇺🇸