Matthew Perry has died

[catnipevergreen]

I'm absolutely devasted if this is true

Just imagine telling it like it is !

Because he's dead we can't say what he was , is that it

really hoped he was clean when he died because he so wanted it. Maybe it was therapeutic?

It wasn’t a therapeutic dose that was detected.

The report says he had been receiving ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety, with his most recent infusion having occurred 1 1/2 weeks before his death.
But the ketamine that was in his system at the time of his death "could not be from that infusion therapy, since ketamine's half-life is 3-4 hours, or less," the examiner said.

I had read it was a therapeutic dose used to wean addicts off opioids. So not necessarily due to drug abuse as such bit a risk factor,

He had a supposed therapeutic dose the week before, but it goes out of your system after a few hours. He had misused it by himself the day of his death.

I believe some (ill-advised imo) practitioners do indeed give addicts ketamine in mental health facilities, in the UK anyway.

There is a lot of evidence that use of psychotropics - LSD, Ketamine etc. can really aid in treatment of trauma and other complext mental health needs. This use is highly regulated and controlled. Addiction issues would be carefully considered when people are considered for treatment.

There is a lot of evidence that use of psychotropics - LSD, Ketamine etc. can really aid in treatment of trauma and other complext mental health needs. This use is highly regulated and controlled. Addiction issues would be carefully considered when people are considered for treatment.

Well, they should be but doesn't seem like they necessarily were in his case.

The use of these sort of things should be a last resort for everyone and there's definitely an argument that an addict should arguably never be put on them. Him being given ketamine and believing he got a boost from it, probably inspired him to use it recreationally more.

The problem is if people have money, they can probably find mavericks prepared to give them any 'treatment' they want to try, whether they should be given it or not.

Michael Jackson springs to mind

It is all unutterably sad and such a waste. A waste of talent and of a good guy who wanted to get better and who had helped so many people.

I have just finished his book and it is mind-boggling at times. He mentions being given ketamine as part of his treatment. He says it was like being hit by the happy shovel but that he didn’t like the hangover and it wasn’t for him. Obviously something changed.

i don’t think the ketamine he took before getting into the hot tub was prescribed. I think it has to be taken under supervision, as in the treatment he had received 1.5 weeks earlier. The person who supplied him with it illegally should be tracked down and dealt with.

One of the saddest parts of the book is towards the end where he says he never expected to be 52 and still single but that he was still hoping to fall in love with a woman and have children together.

Yes true. Generally, in America, the worst healthcare is given to the really poor, or the really rich. If you’re rich you can buy anything.

literally don’t have the energy to quote people, I’m tired. Addicts can’t be held accountable for being addicts. They’re addicted to an addictive substance. Go fucking figure. Just like people with mental health conditions can’t be expected to behave like they don’t have mental health conditions. For. Fuck. Sake! It’s not difficult!

Brilliant point!

Addicts can’t be held accountable for being addicts. They’re addicted to an addictive substance

Some people manage to stop and stay stopped, though. He also stopped taking one substance and eventually moved on to others (which is not unusual of course.)

Some people probably have more psychiatric comorbidities/psychological issues which makes it harder to stay clean.

In his book he said he was given phenobarbital as a baby. By a doctor. Studies since have shown that this kind of thing can lead to addiction in later life. He also admitted that he had an addictive personality and I think this is very telling. In this type of disorder the addiction can be to anything and can be responsible for turning people into anything from alcoholics to drug addicts - stalkers to workaholics.

No but he’s dead so he can’t defend himself can he ?

Ketamine was administered to the 12 young Thai football players (and coach) as a way to sedate them for the long journey out of the cave. One of the rescuers was an Aussie anaesthetist, and he said it was the only viable way to get the boys out without having them panic.

I used to work (briefly) at a hospital in Africa, we gave it to patients to knock them out for procedures. But it’s horrible stuff. People would be howling and screaming as they were coming back round slowly…..for an hour or more!

I only think of it as an animal (think horse) tranquilizer.its original use. Prob not for use on humans

It's also used in this country as a painkiller. I've seen it on one of those emergency rescue type programmes.

It’s a commonly used anaesthetic and analgesic drug in intensive care, anaesthetic and emergency medicine. I use it regularly when putting people onto life support. Everyone I know immediately assumed it was the drug used in the rescue of the children in the Thailand caving disaster because it was the obvious, clear, safest choice.

So tired of reading ignorant silly comments about it being a ‘horse tranquilizer’ or that its use is ‘ill advised in my opinion’.

Ketamine is not the problem. This poor man had a life-threatening illness and he has died from it. Absolutely tragic.

I can not for the life of me understand why people think it could be a good idea giving Ket to someone who is an addict as a treatment? Ketamine is addictive. I know someone currently struggling with it actually.

I thought it was a really horrid drug if used to high levels, doesn’t it ruin your bladder among other things?

Ive heard of lsd treatment for depression but wasn’t aware that ketamine had psychoactive properties. I thought it just tranquillised you. It’s really really sad. I think everyone was hoping that his death would be unrelated to any drugs.

You’re absolutely spot on. Just because he’s dead it shouldn’t stop us from saying what he was. I’ll start shall I ? To me, he was a funny, charming and likeable character from what I saw of him on various chat shows. And he was a talented actor and writer, well respected by his peers.

From reading his book, which was astonishingly honest, I gathered that he was given narcotics as a baby - basically to stop him crying, and that this was probably the precursor to his addiction problems. He had a troubled childhood and suffered from abandonment issues because his parents divorced and batted him backwards and forwards from Canada to the USA as part of shared custody. He found at an early age that alcohol was a huge comfort and inevitably that led to major substance abuse, which spiralled when he found fame and fortune.

l learned that throughout his life he alternated between making huge efforts to get clean, and succumbing to his addiction. He didn’t want to be an addict, took ownership of it and tried his best to kick it. He also tried to help others - he threw himself into the sponsorship program and at the time of his death he was in the process of setting up a foundation to help those with substance abuse problems. And he was adamant that it was this he wanted to be remembered for, rather than his role in friends.

And, l learned that he was a human being. A son, a brother, a friend. He had a family who loved him and who must be devastated now it’s become clear that the addiction he spent most of his life fighting was responsible for finally taking him from them. We’re all human, we’re all vulnerable in some way or other and given the right set of circumstances we could all be the addict, which, if the comments on this thread are anything to go by, we so clearly despise and fear.

RIP Matthew.

Like poor people can’t afford ozempic when they need it or can’t access it due to short supply, rich people can consume dangerous amounts of it.

Exactly. It’s something I didn’t actually occur to me until now. The mega rich can access anything they want in any amount whether it’s good or bad for them because they have the funds to bypass ethics.

As someone who doesn’t drink alcohol, do drugs, smoke or take any prescription pills, I don’t feel anything towards addicts, neither sympathy or condemnation.

I don’t understand their addictions and I’m not particularly interested.

Why on Earth have you bothered to comment?