Frankie Bridge has revealed she uses ketamine therapy to treat her depression.
The former The Saturdays singer has been open about her mental health in the past, revealing she stayed at a psychiatric hospital after having a breakdown.
The 36-year-old has struggled with anxiety and depression all her life and battled “uncontrollable panic attacks” at the height of her career.
Bridge has now revealed she began ketamine treatment several years ago and initially found the process “terrifying”.
The Loose Women star claimed it is the “only thing that really helps” her depression long-term and called the treatment “life-changing”.
“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 said in a recent YouTube video.
Bridge went on: “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.”
The presenter - who recently revealed her depression left her feeling like a “worthless waste of space” - then described how she takes the drug and how it works for her.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
Bridge said she has experimented with using IV drips and taking lozenges, which she said she didn’t find as “effective” because they’re not as “strong”.
“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,” the singer said.
“And then I’ll have one every month, every three months, or every six months, like whenever it’s needed.”
The TV personality divulged that the biggest issue with the therapy is the cost.
“The annoying thing about it is, for me, it’s quite life-changing, but it’s not readily available and it’s really f**king expensive. It annoys me because it could help so many people,” she said.
“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.”
Bridge also revealed she always brings someone to her appointments as the experience can be “really scary”.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
Ketamine can be used for depression when a person has not responded to other treatments, according to the NHS.
However, it is not a licensed treatment for depression and the long-term effects are unknown.
Potential long-term side effects include tolerance, bladder damage, personality change and cognitive impairment.
In 2020, Bridge revealed she was hospitalised for a month after suffering a breakdown at the peak of her musical career.
She went straight to hospital after filming the video for The Saturdays’ single My Heart Takes Over in Iceland in 2011.
If you are struggling with mental health, you can speak to a trained advisor from Mind mental health charity on 0300 123 3393 or email info@mind.org.uk
