Comment from Alessandro Ferdico

I am a 57-year-old New York City dance instructor, songwriter, and patient living with treatment-resistant depression. For much of my adult life, I sought help through conventional psychiatric treatment. Over the years, I was prescribed numerous medications and combinations of medications. While some provided limited benefit, many failed to bring meaningful relief, and some increased my anxiety or produced side effects that made daily life more difficult. Despite my commitment to treatment, there were periods when depression became so severe that I struggled to see a future for myself. I reached a point where hope felt inaccessible. Ketamine changed that. Ketamine changed the filter through which I experienced my life. It gave me enough distance from depression to reconnect with hope, creativity, relationships, and purpose. Most importantly, it helped pull me away from a place where I was questioning whether life was worth continuing. In that sense, ketamine was not merely helpful—it was life-saving. Today I participate actively in my life. I remain deeply grateful that this treatment was available to me. As the FDA considers the future of treatments for unmet medical needs, I hope the experiences of patients like me will be taken seriously. For some of us, ketamine has not simply improved symptoms. It has restored the possibility of a future.