Rachel Carlson

Boris told me the goal became to have sort of a one-size-fits-all mental health approach.

So Gina, this is when SSRIs come on the scene. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. They also target serotonin receptors. antidepressants like SSRIs work for about two-thirds of people who take them, but there were still some major problems. They don't work for the other third, even after trying multiple different drugs. Right. Which leaves a lot of people like just in the lurch. Yeah.

So Gina, this is when SSRIs come on the scene. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. They also target serotonin receptors. antidepressants like SSRIs work for about two-thirds of people who take them, but there were still some major problems. They don't work for the other third, even after trying multiple different drugs. Right. Which leaves a lot of people like just in the lurch. Yeah.

So Gina, this is when SSRIs come on the scene. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. They also target serotonin receptors. antidepressants like SSRIs work for about two-thirds of people who take them, but there were still some major problems. They don't work for the other third, even after trying multiple different drugs. Right. Which leaves a lot of people like just in the lurch. Yeah.

And I mean, there's other factors, too. You have to take them every single day. You have to be on them for at least a few weeks until you can even really feel a change. Yeah. And so there's this urgent need for alternative treatments for mental health conditions, which is why around 2000 or so, researchers start studying another drug called ketamine.

And I mean, there's other factors, too. You have to take them every single day. You have to be on them for at least a few weeks until you can even really feel a change. Yeah. And so there's this urgent need for alternative treatments for mental health conditions, which is why around 2000 or so, researchers start studying another drug called ketamine.

And I mean, there's other factors, too. You have to take them every single day. You have to be on them for at least a few weeks until you can even really feel a change. Yeah. And so there's this urgent need for alternative treatments for mental health conditions, which is why around 2000 or so, researchers start studying another drug called ketamine.

You might know it as a recreational drug, but it's also been used since the 1960s as an anesthetic in clinical settings. So it's not a psychedelic. It's not a psychedelic, at least according to most people I talk to. Okay. But it can have these similar-ish effects depending on the dose. Like it can make people feel numb or give them this sometimes euphoric or dissociated feeling.

You might know it as a recreational drug, but it's also been used since the 1960s as an anesthetic in clinical settings. So it's not a psychedelic. It's not a psychedelic, at least according to most people I talk to. Okay. But it can have these similar-ish effects depending on the dose. Like it can make people feel numb or give them this sometimes euphoric or dissociated feeling.

You might know it as a recreational drug, but it's also been used since the 1960s as an anesthetic in clinical settings. So it's not a psychedelic. It's not a psychedelic, at least according to most people I talk to. Okay. But it can have these similar-ish effects depending on the dose. Like it can make people feel numb or give them this sometimes euphoric or dissociated feeling.

That's David Olson, a chemical neuroscientist at UC Davis. He studies compounds like psychedelics. And so, Gina, to summarize all this history, David told me that once people started studying ketamine, they wondered what other kinds of compounds might have similar rapid effects. And remember all that research on psychedelics that got paused? Yeah. Yeah. OK. So that comes up again.

That's David Olson, a chemical neuroscientist at UC Davis. He studies compounds like psychedelics. And so, Gina, to summarize all this history, David told me that once people started studying ketamine, they wondered what other kinds of compounds might have similar rapid effects. And remember all that research on psychedelics that got paused? Yeah. Yeah. OK. So that comes up again.

That's David Olson, a chemical neuroscientist at UC Davis. He studies compounds like psychedelics. And so, Gina, to summarize all this history, David told me that once people started studying ketamine, they wondered what other kinds of compounds might have similar rapid effects. And remember all that research on psychedelics that got paused? Yeah. Yeah. OK. So that comes up again.

Right. So for the first question, this is really a challenge for all experiments. You want to make sure that you're testing one thing and then comparing it to a control or a placebo drug. To see if it's really the thing you're testing that causes an effect versus like some other factor. Right. And that's even harder when it comes to these drugs in particular.

Right. So for the first question, this is really a challenge for all experiments. You want to make sure that you're testing one thing and then comparing it to a control or a placebo drug. To see if it's really the thing you're testing that causes an effect versus like some other factor. Right. And that's even harder when it comes to these drugs in particular.

Right. So for the first question, this is really a challenge for all experiments. You want to make sure that you're testing one thing and then comparing it to a control or a placebo drug. To see if it's really the thing you're testing that causes an effect versus like some other factor. Right. And that's even harder when it comes to these drugs in particular.

Albert told me about a few ways researchers can address this problem. So one is to give people another drug called an active comparator. Usually it's one that can kind of mimic certain effects of something like a psychedelic without having to give people one.

Albert told me about a few ways researchers can address this problem. So one is to give people another drug called an active comparator. Usually it's one that can kind of mimic certain effects of something like a psychedelic without having to give people one.

Albert told me about a few ways researchers can address this problem. So one is to give people another drug called an active comparator. Usually it's one that can kind of mimic certain effects of something like a psychedelic without having to give people one.

Or another strategy is just to give everyone the drug, sometimes at different doses to see what's most effective. And then you can sort of parse out a threshold for what might work and what might not. Okay. So remember Lori?