Skip to main content

Transforming the understanding
and treatment of mental illnesses.

Celebrating 75 Years! Learn More >>

 Archived Content

The National Institute of Mental Health archives materials that are over 4 years old and no longer being updated. The content on this page is provided for historical reference purposes only and may not reflect current knowledge or information.

NIMH Twitter Chat on Depression and the Development of Novel Medications

Science Update

NIMH Twitter Chat

It usually takes weeks to months after starting an antidepressant for people with depression to feel substantially better. Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have been experimenting with new medications that rapidly decrease symptoms of depression within just a few hours. Understanding how experimental medications may work to quickly lift severe and hard-to-treat depressive symptoms may lead to development of new, faster-acting treatments.

To learn more about these novel treatments for depression, NIMH is hosting a Twitter chat on National Depression Screening Day, Thursday, October 9, 2014, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT. NIMH expert Carlos Zarate, M.D., chief of the Section on the Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood Disorders and Chief of Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch (ETPB), will be on hand to discuss his research on novel medications for treatment-resistant depression. Dr. Zarate’s research into a drug called Ketamine has resulted in rapid-acting depression treatments that work within hours and last three to five days or more.

Please use the hashtag #NIMHchats  to follow and participate in the conversation on Ketamine and other medications. To ask questions, you must have a Twitter account. If you prefer to simply observe the chat taking place, you may do so at twubs.com  and view the conversation in real-time. An archive of the chat will be posted on NIMH’s website following the event.

If you have any questions, please email NIMHpress@nih.gov. See you on Twitter!