Dissociatives
Ketamine, PCP, DXM, nitrous oxide — substances that produce dissociation through NMDA antagonism.
Latest reporting
France Just Approved IV Ketamine for Suicidal Crisis. The US Has an Excuse, Not an Answer.
France’s ANSM became the first national regulator anywhere to authorize IV racemic ketamine for adult acute suicidal crisis. The US approved esketamine in 2019 but won’t standardize IV ketamine—because it’s a generic with no commercial sponsor.
Psychedelic and Dissociative Drugs as Medicines
At ASAM 2026, ketamine showed promise as a dual treatment for comorbid depression and alcohol use disorder. A concurrent Frontiers paper asks the question the field keeps avoiding: what about ketamine's own addiction liability?
What Ketamine Does to Your Brain — and Why Regulators Can't Agree on What to Do About It
Ketamine works in hours when antidepressants take weeks. A March 2026 study in Molecular Psychiatry finally explains why — and also why the regulatory chaos surrounding it is far from over.
Through eight lenses
Science
NMDA receptor antagonism (ketamine, PCP, DXM), nitrous as N2O NMDA + opioid.
Biology
Dissociation at moderate doses; K-hole at higher; ketamine bladder toxicity with chronic recreational use; B12 deficiency and neuropathy from nitrous.
Psychology
Dissociative experience; emerging ketamine use disorder pattern; the therapy/recreation confusion.
Policy
Ketamine Schedule III; esketamine (Spravato) FDA-approved for TRD; nitrous legal and lightly regulated; PCP Schedule II.
France Just Approved IV Ketamine for Suicidal Crisis. The US Has an Excuse, Not an Answer.
Jun 16Ketamine's Regulatory Reckoning: Clinic Oversight, DEA Enforcement, and the Line Between Medicine and Misuse
May 26Dissociatives in 2026: Texas Is About to Reshape Ketamine Care — and Other States Are Watching
May 21
Trends
Ketamine clinics exploding; WhipIt+ canister culture; DXM abuse among adolescents declining.
Treatment
Ketamine use disorder — sparse evidence, harm-reduction-heavy approach.
Harm Reduction
Nitrous B12 supplementation, ketamine urinary-tract monitoring, don't mix dissociatives with depressants.