INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — In the U.S., 280 million people with depression are mostly prescribed anti-depressants, but what if those don’t work?

For years, the gold standard is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but researchers seeking alternatives just tested IV ketamine with great results.

Treatment-resistant depression affects 15% of Americans.

“What depression has left for them is the feeling of being stuck,” said Dr. Sanjay Mathew, director and vice chair of research at Baylor College of Medicine

Traditional anti-depressant meds just don’t work, even after several rounds.

“Treatment-resistant depression signifies when a patient has not responded optimally to at least two conventional treatments,” said Mathew.

At that point, patients may undergo electroconvulsive therapy.

“The brain’s seizure and the brain’s response to having that seizure is what is therapeutic,” Mathew said. “One of the challenges with ECT is it is often associated with memory loss.”

But this study at Baylor College of Medicine tested a viable alternative to ECT: Intravenous ketamine, a common anesthetic drug. Some of the 400 participants with major depressive disorder received several infusions over three weeks.

“The overall results suggested ketamine had a slightly elevated rate of response compared to ECT,” Mathew said. “It means that patients improved in their depression scores of about 50%.

Motivating them to live life again.

“We had one patient who reported that they want to finally sort through their laundry and sort through the mail that had been stacking up in their apartment,” said Mathew.

Not a cure for depression, but a very positive step.

Mathew says depression still presents a challenge to physicians because there is not a complete understanding of its full biology. Major depression remains a diagnosis, based on symptoms.

This story was created from a script aired on WISH-TV. Health Spotlight is presented by Community Health Network.