- Elon Musk has told people he microdoses ketamine for depression, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- The billionaire also takes full doses at parties, the publication said.
Elon Musk has told people he is taking small doses of ketamine to treat depression and has been seen taking the drug recreationally as well, according to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal.
The publication said the billionaire takes full doses of the drug at parties, citing individuals who have seen Musk use ketamine as well as other people with direct knowledge.
Musk did not respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication. But, the Tesla CEO tweeted about the use of ketamine to treat depression less than two hours after The Journal's report was published.
"Depression is overdiagnosed in the US, but for some people it really is a brain chemistry issue," Musk tweeted in the early hours of Tuesday morning. "But zombifying people with SSRIs for sure happens way too much. From what I've seen with friends, ketamine taken occasionally is a better option."
Ketamine is a "dissociative drug" that can impact an individual's visual and auditory senses, as well as produce "detachment from reality," according to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation. The drug is commonly used in the medical field as an anesthetic, but can also be used illegally as a party drug. The drug can be sold as a white powder, dissolved into a liquid, or sold in pill form.
The use of ketamine to treat depression has been studied in some clinical trials and it could prove to be a new frontier for treatment. The US Food and Drug Administration hasn't officially approved ketamine for treating mental health issues, but for over a decade some medical professionals have prescribed the drug off-label to some patients.
Musk is reportedly one of several executives in Silicon Valley to try his hand at psychedelics. Google cofounder Sergey Brin has taken psilocybin mushrooms, The Journal reported, citing people familiar with his use of the drug. Insider previously reported that Brin attended a party in Los Angeles last summer where guests openly consumed psychedelic mushrooms and has been said by peers to have an interest in psychedelic drugs in general. Similarly, members of the Founders Fund — an elite San Francisco venture capital firm that has invested in major companies like SpaceX, Airbnb, and Spotify — have been known to throw parties with psychedelics, the publication said.
Spokespeople for Brin and the Founders Fund did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication. But, a spokesperson for the Founders Fund told The Journal: "Research shows that psychedelics can provide significant mental health benefits, and we support public and private sector efforts to make these drugs safely and legally available."
Microdosing, the practice of taking very small amount of a drug, has become a common practice in Silicon Valley, where executives take tiny amounts of drugs like LSD to in an effort to boost their creativity and focus. Insider previously reported that the jury is out on whether the drugs are effective. Though, many psychedelics are illegal.
Musk has gotten in hot water in the past for using drugs. In 2022, the billionaire said he and the "whole of SpaceX" had to be drug tested for a year after he smoked weed on a podcast with Joe Rogan in 2018. And Tesla board members expressed concern when the CEO told The New Times in 2018 that he'd begun using Ambien to sleep.
Last year, The New York Times reported that the billionaire often likes to discuss the benefits of psychedelic drugs with friends and has gone to nearly every Burning Man festival for the past 20 years.
"I have been with him on mild exploratory journeys," David Marglin, a Bay Area lawyer who met Mr. Musk at Burning Man and has been his friend for 20 years, told the Times in 2022. "And he appreciates the value of those journeys. Nothing out of control or wild, but it's all night, and there's dancing and revelry."