Depression and Anxiety Rarely Travel Alone
Anxiety and depression are highly comorbid — many patients being treated for treatment-resistant depression are also living with clinically significant anxiety symptoms at the same time. Spravato is not FDA-approved as a stand-alone anxiety treatment, and we don't offer or market it as one. What's worth knowing is what the published research on esketamine has found in patients who have both conditions.
What the Research Shows
In clinical trials of esketamine for treatment-resistant depression, a substantial share of participants also had clinically significant anxiety symptoms at the start of treatment. Across that research, reductions in depression severity were generally accompanied by improvement in anxiety symptoms as well — suggesting that for patients with both conditions, treating the depression can meaningfully ease the anxiety that so often comes with it, even though anxiety isn't the treatment target itself.
What This Means for You
If you're living with both treatment-resistant depression and anxiety, it's worth raising both during your evaluation. Your provider can talk through what the evidence does and doesn't support, and build a plan — potentially combining Spravato, medication management, and psychotherapy — around your full picture, not just one diagnosis at a time.
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Spravato & OCD
What the research shows about co-occurring OCD symptoms during depression treatment.
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