Top UK doctors: We MUST tackle surging numbers of young people hooked on ketamine READ MORE: London wellness clinic is using KETAMINE to treat depression By Rebecca Whittaker For Mailonline Published: 11:33 BST, 16 September 2024 | Updated: 11:34 BST, 16 September 2024 e-mail View comments Ketamine addiction is a 'rapidly growing national problem', a top UK doctor with more than 20 years' experience treating substance abuse, has warned. Private clinics that specialise in ketamine addiction have seen a surge young people seeking treatment, while NHS service have reported similar rises. And experts say these figures are the tip of the iceberg with vastly greater numbers of those with problems not seeking help.
Owen Bowden-Jones, a consultant psychiatrist and founder of the pioneering Club Drug clinic, fears some are now using the drug to ease mental health problems. He suggests that the rise in addiction could be a result of people struggling to access NHS psychiatric services for other issues, such as trauma. Clinics that specialise in Ketamine (pictured) addiction have reported a surge in the numbers of young people seeking treatment UK Addiction Treatment said admission numbers for ketamine, which usually comes as a crystalline powder or liquid, doubled from 198 in 2020 to 397 in 2023 Professor Bowden-Jones told The Guardian that in his experience young people who have 'experienced trauma' are using the drug as an 'emotional anesthetic'.
He added: 'My sense is the vast major.