Ketamine-assisted therapy is increasingly recognized as an option for people living with depression and anxiety, particularly when other treatments haven’t helped.
At the same time, it’s clear that people respond differently, and understanding why matters.
A recent study led by our treating physician and Research & Innovation Lead Dr. Francois Louw and team examined whether personality traits and trauma history help explain differences in symptom severity and treatment response among patients receiving ketamine-assisted therapy in a real-world clinical setting.
While ketamine-assisted therapy shows promising results, individual response varies. Until now, little research has explored how personality traits or trauma history relate to symptom severity or short-term outcomes.
This study aimed to better understand those differences — not to predict who will “succeed,” but to inform more thoughtful, personalized care.
How the Study Worked:
The study included 184 patients receiving ketamine-assisted therapy at a Canadian clinic.
Before treatment, participants completed standardized assessments measuring:
- personality traits (Mini-IPIP)
- depression severity (PHQ-9)
- anxiety severity (GAD-7)
- quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF)
Researchers used statistical modeling to identify personality-based subgroups and examined how these profiles — along with trauma history — related to baseline symptoms and short-term changes following treatment.
What the Researchers Found
- Three personality profiles emerged
Analysis revealed three distinct personality profiles:
- Easygoing Extraverts
- Average
- Reserved Introverts
- Personality related to baseline severity, not short-term response
Participants identified as Reserved Introverts reported significantly higher levels of depression and anxiety before treatment compared to the other groups.
However, all three personality profiles showed improvements in depression and anxiety one week after treatment, and personality type did not predict who improved more.
- Trauma history mattered
Participants who reported a history of trauma experienced:
- greater reductions in depression
- greater improvements in physical quality of life
- compared to those without a reported trauma history.
What This Means
These findings suggest that while personality traits may influence how severe symptoms feel at baseline, they do not appear to determine short-term response to ketamine-assisted therapy.
Trauma history, however, may play a meaningful role in how people experience benefit — highlighting the importance of trauma-informed, integrative care models.
At Odyssey, personalization is a vital part of the process.
This study reinforces why thoughtful screening, preparation, and integration are essential components of ketamine-assisted therapy, especially for individuals with complex histories.
Ongoing research like this helps refine how ketamine-assisted therapy is offered — not as a universal solution, but as a carefully guided therapeutic tool used when clinically appropriate.
