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Mind-altering drugs might provide relief for those who don’t respond to conventional therapies — but does the hype outweigh the hope?
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Cassandra Willyard is a science journalist in Madison, Wisconsin.
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Tom Hendricks lay back on his bed and pulled a mask down over his eyes. Then he took a ketamine mint and placed it between his cheek and gums. He let the electronic music coming through his headphones wash over him. About 20 minutes later, he felt the drug take effect. He saw colours and shapes that changed in time with the music. “It almost was a synaesthesia effect where the sounds and music would paint pictures,” he says. Embedded within those pictures, Hendricks saw his consciousness and the dark cloud hanging over it.
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Nature 608, S36-S38 (2022)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02205-w
This article is part of Nature Outlook: Depression, an editorially independent supplement produced with the financial support of third parties. About this content.
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