ABSTRACT
This chapter advances the proposition that our failure to significantly increase the response rates in major depression has led psychiatry to embrace not only multiple forms of brain stimulation and irreversible neurological surgery, but also a return to an era when hallucinogenic and psychotogenic agents were considered legitimate therapeutic options. Although various legislative and regulatory actions foreclosed such research for several decades, the field has been enthusiastically reborn. In addition, a number of papers have posited the use of opioids for depression, despite the opioid epidemic, as well the use of ketamine and methamphetamine. Others have noted positive results with anti-inflammatories, oral antidiabetic drugs, scopolamine, and whole-body hyperthermia. The benefits and risks of these strategies will be reviewed, as well as an acknowledgment that socioeconomic issues are blocking the effectiveness of therapies.
