The slide in addiction and despair was frightening.
It all started when father-of-one Grant Smith* was confronted with redundancy his job in the management of music events, and then lost his mother within a few months.
The 58-year-old from Somerset started to drink hard, first looking for something to numb the accident he felt.
Soon one or two glasses became a bottle per night and he says he just lost control.
“I always enjoyed a drink, but things started to spiral. I worked from home and on strange hours, so I made a life in which it seemed that I was functioning – but the drink began to take over, “he admits, reminding the episode in 2019.
‘Eventually I went to the doctor and explained my problems, hoping for some sort of support or treatment. But he said that I “didn’t drank enough” to be referred for professional help.
“I had managed periods in which I would stop drinking earlier, but the urge always came back, and this time much stronger, I couldn’t just stop myself,” says Grant.
‘For everyone it was fine with me, I could hold a job, even run marathons, but it was the drink that helped me to get through the day.
The 58-year-old subsidy was told by his doctor that he was not drinking enough to be eligible for professional help
The father of one registered for a groundbreaking process from the University of Exeter to help overcome his drinking problems
“As a father I hated what I had become, and I got sick myself, it was my dirty little secret and I knew it had to stop.”
Then Grant came across a Facebook advertisement in search of volunteers to participate in a medical study for a new drug treatment for alcohol addiction. He reported – and, in his own words, “it changed everything.”
Four years later he is sober and no longer feels the urge to drink.
So what was the therapy that caused such a remarkable change?
It was Ketamine – a powerful medical anesthesia that is better known for its reputation as a party medicine. Ketamine has been infamous abused because of its hallucinogenic effects and has become one of the fastest rising substances of abuse in the UK.
Although general drug use is falling, the use of ketamines – especially among young people. Campaigners have warned that taking it is now seen as ‘almost a transition ritual’.
The medicine was also linked to the death of friends star Matthew Perry, who is assumed that it was first prescribed to treat depression and anxiety.
But the decoration of the version was Arketamine – a pharmaceutical formulation that was now being investigated as a possible breakthrough in the treatment of heavy and dependent drinkers.
Four years after the ketamine treatment subsidy, it is still sober and says he doesn’t feel the urge to drink
As part of a clinical study by scientists at the University of Exeter, the participants received three Arketamine infusions in addition to a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) course – the gold standard treatment for alcohol abuse.
Another group only received CBT, combined with placebo infusions.
To be eligible, volunteers had to be diagnosed with a serious alcohol consumption disorder – usually defined as drinking around 150 units per week – recommends the NHS not to drink more than 14 units per week.
Early results are striking. Those who received the ketamine therapy combination went from daily drinks to 86 percent of the time over a period of six months that it would remain sober that performed considerably better than the group with only therapy.
Experts believe that the medicine works because it partially fights the depressive mood created by alcohol consumption.
It does this by increasing the levels of a substance called glutamate, which helps brain cells to function better.
Previous studies have suggested that Arketamine is more effective than standard antidepressants for treatment -resistant depression.
“Depressive mood can often lead to a relapse,” says Professor Celia Morgan, an expert in psychedelic research at the university as an exeter. “When people turn to alcohol, they are often self -mediating for depression, so when there is a sudden stop, their depression can get worse, so we are currently seeing a high levels of relapse.”
It is crucial that during the test every cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) session was planned within 24 hours of an intravenous dose of arketamine.
“The timing of the CBT is the key,” explains Professor Morgan, who led the study. ‘The drug induces a period of increased neuroplasticity – when the brain is more open to change.
“Patients become more receptive to learning, which makes therapy considerably more effective.”
However, Arketamine treatment is not without side effects. Alarmingly, Grant explains that after the first infusion he experienced hallucinations in the course of 45 minutes treatment.
It was after the second transfusion that he felt the transforming effect.
“I just let it go,” said Grant. “It felt like my soul had left my body, it felt like I was looking at myself, I lost the feeling of everything around me. It was really profound. ‘
Since the completion of the process, Grant says that he has not felt the urge to drink at all.
In contrast to earlier attempts for austerity, he can now be close to alcohol – at home or social events – without any temptation to fall back. In particular, he does not need any further therapy or support in the four years since his treatment ended.
Researchers behind the test say that the most important advantage of this approach is the ability to drastically reduce the relapse rates.
Current data suggests that a maximum of three in four patients with severe alcohol abuse disorder disorder after conventional treatment is relapse. Early findings of the ketamine CBT combination, on the other hand, are considerably encouraging.
Alcohol abuse costs the NHS an estimated £ 4.9 billion a year. According to NHS Digital, alcohol-specific and alcohol-related hospital admissions are included in the most recent year (2023-24), with the percentage for alcohol-related recordings now at its highest since 2016.
Professor Morgan said: ‘The test data has shown that it is really effective in preventing relapse within six months, but we have had patients where it is effective for four years without further treatment.
“The impact of dealing with relapse would be enormous, preventing serious damage to patients’ lives and also saving the NHS considerable money because these same people will not end up in A&E or addiction services.”
However, the hope is that the treatment will be available in the NHS in the near future after successful test data.
The research has shown that the only common side effect is an increase in blood pressure, which experts say that it could limit the number of people who are eligible for treatment.
Dr. Christos Kouimtsidis, Consultant Psychiatrist in addictions at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, who participated in the process, said: ‘Since the Pandemie we have seen a growing number of people who referred to our services.
“The hope with this treatment is that it will lower the relapse rates, which means that fewer people have to return for continuous care – both patients and relieve pressure on service.”
*The name of Grant has changed for anonymity
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