Frankie Bridge has opened up about treating her depression with ketamine.
The former Saturdays singer, 36, has been open about her mental health over the last 14 years, after being hospitalised with depression in 2011.
At the height of her career, Frankie shared she battled anxiety, stress, and uncontrollable panic attacks to the point she ‘couldn’t see the point of living any more.’
In a recent YouTube video, the star praised ‘ket therapy’ and its life-changing effects on her life.
‘Obviously, my mental health is always a work in process, and I’m always trying to find new ways of just making it better basically. And quite a few years ago now, I started ketamine treatment.’
She revealed that she initially found it ‘terrifying’, but has now been on it for a few years as it’s the ‘only thing that really helps me long term’.
‘As someone who’s never taken a drug before, it was terrifying. I’ve never had that feeling of completely letting go. I think I’ve realised control is a big thing for me, and that is fully being out of control – like I don’t even like being really drunk.
‘And I started it a few years ago, and that was quite a big deal for me. It’s just the only thing that really helps me long term.’
She then detailed how she took the drug and how the therapy worked and her journey so far.
‘So with the ketamine, I’ve done IV treatment and I’ve done lozenge treatment. Now I do it with a therapist, and then the next day we follow up and we talk through if I said anything while I was having the treatment, or how I felt during it, and just go through it.
‘Because it’s very good at bringing things up that maybe in the past you have pushed down or not acknowledged. Or it brings up things you didn’t think were bothering you that much, and then you say it and you’re like “Oh wow, okay.”
‘But it also helps with the neuropathways. So for me, it’s like I have a wall in between my neuropathways, so they can’t meet and attach, and with ketamine, it builds new ones around that wall. So it’s not just helpful in that moment while you’re having the treatment, it’s long-term and it rebuilds those for you, and I’ve really noticed a difference long-term.’
Ketamine for depression
The NHS suggests ketamine can be used for treatment-resistant depression (TDR): ‘Ketamine is a treatment for depression which has not responded to other treatments.’
But it is emphasised that Ketamine is not a licensed treatment for depression, and the effects of taking it long-term are unknown. Additionally, 1 in 10 patients have ‘an experience that is very challenging’.
Potential long-term side effects include:
- Dependence
- Tolerance
- Bladder damage
- Cognitive impairment
- Personality change
She then explained that she was still currently working out her dosage, and is currently taking lozenges after previously using IV drips.
‘But we’re just trying to figure out if I need top-ups. I did IV treatments, and for quite a few months, I had no dips, and I felt really good. It was the first time I was like, “Wow this really works!”
‘Then, after quite a few months, I had a dip and we tried lozenge treatment. It’s kind of the same process, but I didn’t find them as effective because they can’t be as strong,’ she said.
‘So now I’m doing a course of six IVs to start off. And then we’re going to see how many months it takes for the positive effects to wear off, I suppose. And then I’ll have one every month, every three months, or every six months, like whenever it’s needed.’
Frankie then highlighted the key issue with this therapy: the cost. She explained that she could afford it, but the life-changing treatment was incredibly expensive.
The annoying thing about it is, for me,it’s it’s quite life-changing, but it’s not readily available and it’s really f*****g expensive. It annoys me because it could help so many people.
‘Some people have it and they never need to have it again, or they don’t need to take antidepressants, just so many positive effects from it.’
She also revealed that she is always accompanied to the appointments, admitting she found it quite ‘scary’ initially.
‘It is scary. I always have to have someone there, because you have to have that out-of-body experience to fully get the right effects. And sometimes I feel like I’m going really far away, and I have a real fear of death, so sometimes it feels like I’m never going to come back, and that can be really scary.
‘So just to have someone there, that I can reach out my hand and they can hold my hand, it’s really grounding. But the more I’ve done it, the less I feel scared of that now, because obviously I know the process.’
She explained that she wouldn’t film her experience in the office, but returned to camera to tell her audience she had the low-dose treatment and was continuing with her day.
In 2021, while appearing on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Frankie detailed how she suffered a breakdown at just 21, which led to her going to rehab.
‘I was with Wayne, I was able to function at work, but then I’d come home and I couldn’t function. Just cry all the time. I didn’t want to be alive anymore, basically,’ she said.
In her book Open: Why Asking For Help Can Save Your Life, which was released in 2020, she explained how the hospital stay helped her cope with her mental health issues.
‘There were so many people who had experienced the same feelings as me, if not worse, that I felt understood and not so alone. I no longer had to hide, cover up and lie about how I was,’ she wrote.
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