Improvement in Depressive Symptoms in a Patient with Severe and Enduring Anorexia Nervosa and Comorbid Major Depressive Disorder Using Psychotherapy-Assisted IV Ketamine : A Case Report

Summary

A 33-year-old woman with severe and enduring anorexia nervosa and major depressive disorder, who had not improved with numerous prior treatments including antidepressants, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, electroconvulsive therapy, and various therapies, received seven sessions of intravenous ketamine combined with acceptance and commitment therapy in a hospital setting. She showed increased cognitive flexibility, disappearance of suicidal ideation, and reduction in Beck Depression Inventory scores. Her body mass index was profoundly low at 13, whereas the lowest previously documented in the literature was 16.9. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy may be a promising treatment for patients with anorexia nervosa and comorbid depression who have failed other interventions.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract Background : Anorexia nervosa is a life-threatening psychiatric illness with a high mortality rate and limited treatment options. This illness is frequently comorbid with major depressive disorder, leading to additional obstaces in patient quality of life, and increasing the mortality rate further due to risk of suicide. Ketamine, an competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, has been shown to be beneficial in depression given its effects on neuroplasticity. There are few cases in the literature describing ketamine use in patients with eating disorders, and even fewer that describe psychotherapy-assisted ketamine use in this patient population. We present the case of a 33-year-old woman with a history of severe and enduring anorexia nervosa and comorbid major depressive disorder who we treated safely with ketamine-assisted psychotherapy using intravenous ketamine in a general hospital setting. Case presentation : Our patient is a 33-year-old woman with past psychiatric history of severe and enduring anorexia nervosa and major depressive disorder with comorbid psychiatric and medical conditions who presented to the hospital due to malnutrition. She had an extensive psychiatric history as well as multiple medical hospitalizations due to her eating disorder. She had tried numerous psychiatric treatments, including antidepressants, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, electroconvulsive therapy, and multiple types of therapies without significant improvement in symptoms. She agreed to try ketamine for treatment-resistant depression and received it intravenously for seven sessions in a closely monitored setting, and simultaneously engaged in acceptance and commitment therapy during sessions. She demonstrated increased cognitive flexibility, disappearance of suicidal ideation, and reduction in Beck Depression Inventory Scores. Conclusions : Our case in unique in that it demonstrates the successful usage of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy in a hospital setting with severe and enduring anorexia nervosa and comorbid major depressive disorder. Her body mass index was profoundly low at 13, whereas the lowest documented in the literature was 16.9. This case shows that ketamine-assisted psychotherapy may be a promising treatment modality for patients with anorexia nervosa with co-morbid depression who have failed other interventions.