[Experience in using ketamine preparations in the psychotherapy of alcoholism]

After careful clinical examination 64 alcoholics (48 males and 16 females) aged 21-52 were assigned to ketamin aversive psychotherapeutic procedure supposed to make the patients emotionally concerned with their disease and suggestible of alcohol intolerance. Ketamin caused in 55 patients (85.5%) oneiroid clouding of consciousness with occasional catatonic inclusions, 9 patients (14.5%) became delirious. Ketamin-induced high suggestibility created beneficial conditions for psychotherapy. A 2-year follow-up of 42 patients registered complete abstinence in 15 patients. The results obtained with ketamin are comparable to those achieved with conventional methods. This alternative approach needs further research, especially as analytical opportunities are concerned.