All you need to know about ketamine, the drug behind Matthew Perry's death

Ketamine is defined as a 'dissociative anesthetic' by the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

Matthew Perry, who played the role of Chandler on the superhit American sitcom “Friends”, died from an accidental ketamine overdose, medical examiners said on Friday after completing their investigation. The actor was found unconscious in his pool at his Los Angeles house on October 28. He was 54.

According to AFP, Perry had struggled with addiction to drugs for decades. He was also addicted to ketamine but had reportedly been clean for 19 months prior to his passing. “Matthew Perry's cause of death is determined to be from the acute effects of ketamine,” the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office said in a statement.

“Contributory factors in his death include drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects. The manner of death is accident.”

The autopsy also described Perry as a "tobacco user for many years but currently not smoking; on ketamine infusion therapy with most recent therapy reportedly one and a half weeks before death."

According to a report by USA Today, the beloved actor was "receiving ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety." Now, to answer the question on everyone’s minds. What is ketamine? Read on further to find out more.

Ketamine is defined as a "dissociative anesthetic” with some hallucinogenic effect by the US Drug Enforcement Administration. The agency also described it as a medication that alters the perception of sight and sound that makes users feel devoid of any pain and can also make them feel like they are having an “out of body” experience.

“Ketamine can induce a state of sedation (feeling calm and relaxed), immobility, relief from pain, and amnesia (no memory of events while under the influence of the drug) and is abused for the dissociative sensations and hallucinogenic effects,” the DEA said.

However, the approved dosage of the drug is used as an injectable short-lasting anesthetic for people and animals as well as a nasal spray for the treatment of severe depression. It has also been recognised as a fast-acting antidepressant drug for decades now.

In 2006, researchers at the National Institutes of Health showed that an intravenous dose of ketamine could relieve severe depression in a matter of hours as opposed to Prozac and Zoloft that often take weeks to ease the condition and sometimes don’t work for every patient, NPR said.

The FDA officially approved eketamine or ketamine nasal spray for depression in 2019. The purpose of the drug was to treat severe despression, suicidal thoughts and treatment-resistant depression if at least two alternative antidepressants failed.

Ketamine targets a neurotransmitter called glutamate as opposed to dopamine or serotonin. Glutamate promotes the brain's ability to form lasting and new lifestyle patterns, USA Today reported.

Apart from being known as a promising treatment for resistant depression, ketamine is also known as a psychedelic party drug. It has also garnered a negative perception due to the same and has earned the name “Special K”.

However, psychiatrists say that ketamine can be a life-changing solution if administered under a controlled medical setting as compared to conventional medications.