Ketamine was once a popular anesthesia in many hospitals but is now primarily only used in veterinary medicine. This powerful dissociative is now mostly a illicit club drug that many teens and young adults fall victim too. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to tell when someone close to you is addicted to it.

If you need help finding ketamine addiction treatment for your loved one, call 800-915-1270 (Who Answers?). 

Physical Signs of Ketamine Use

Ketamine like all drugs have physical signs of use and overuse. These signs usually exhibit themselves either during use or just after use. Some of these signs are:

Ketamine addicts will seem hung over when they’re coming down from the drug.

• loss of coordination
• increased heart rate
• irregular heart rate
• increased blood pressure
• slurred speech
• physical tolerance to the drug
• impaired fine and gross motor function
• irregular breathing

People who are abusing ketamine also exhibit crashing symptoms. This means the morning after they use, they:

• sleep for long periods
• act as if they are hung over
• may be excessively thirsty or hungry

These symptoms although not dangerous, do indicate there might be a problem.

Psychological Signs of Ketamine Addiction

According to Brown University, ketamine addiction has a variety of psychological symptoms as well. Some of the psychological symptoms of ketamine addiction are:

• psychological tolerance
• inability to feel happy
• neurosis
• cognitive impairment
• reduced ability to learn

All of these symptoms affect people to varying degrees. Most people who are addicted to ketamine find that they experience these symptoms with increased ketamine doses. Unfortunately, psychologists are unable to determine if many of the addicts are using ketamine because of the inability to feel happy or if ketamine causes the inability to feel happy.

Behavioral Signs of Ketamine Addiction

If your spouse is addicted to ketamine there are quite a few behavioral signs that will become more apparent as the addiction progresses. Some of these signs are:

• more frequent use or desire to use
• unhappiness when they cannot use ketamine
• increased spending on ketamine to the point where bills are being neglected
• irritability
• failing to show up for work
• being late to work
• failing to finish tasks
• going to further extremes with the ketamine use attempting to reach a specific point
• coming up with reasons to get high or remain high

These behavioral signs are a pretty clear indication that an addiction is at least forming. Unfortunately, a ketamine addict will go further and further until they reach a point where the use is extreme and they risk overdosing.

How Can I Tell if Someone I Love is Addicted to Ketamine?

Social Signs of Ketamine Addiction

There are also some social signs to look out for when you are wondering if your spouse is on or addicted to ketamine. These social signs are:

• changes in friends
• changes in family activity
• skipping parties and other functions
• skipping important events
• avoiding people who do not use
• avoiding you when they are using or crashing
• changing the places that they hang out

Many of the social signs are easily missed in people using ketamine because they are usually introverts to start out with.

How to Find Help for Your Spouse’s Ketamine Addiction

You can find help for your spouse by calling 800-915-1270 (Who Answers?). We can help you find the treatment that you need.