For people with depression that hasn’t responded to other treatments, using a nasal spray called esketamine for six months may significantly help lift their mood, based on standard depression scores.

In two people with severe depression that didn’t improve with other treatments, their symptoms got worse when their esketamine nose spray was given twice a week instead of once a week.

When people with severe depression that hasn’t responded to regular antidepressants get a nasal spray called esketamine along with their usual meds, they tend to feel a little better after a few weeks—about as much as if they added a different type of psychiatric pill.

Some studies show that a nasal spray called esketamine helps with severe depression, but other bigger studies don’t show the same level of help—so scientists are confused about whether it really works as well as first thought.

In two people with severe depression that didn’t respond to other treatments, a nasal spray called esketamine made them feel better at first, but then their mood got worse again—like a quick high followed by a crash.

Two people with severe depression that didn’t respond to other treatments felt better at first after using a nasal spray called esketamine, but then their depression and suicidal thoughts got much worse—until they stopped using the spray, and then they felt better again.