Ketamine, Gay Men and Trauma: One Man's Story

UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton · Apr 8, 2026 · 31m

Ketamine use is on the rise among Americans. But if you’re a gay man, that probably comes as no surprise. Gay and lesbian adults are almost four times more likely to use ketamine than their heterosexual counterparts, and a 2011 study from the U.K. found that queer men were over three times more likely than queer women to use the drug.

For many gay men—who disproportionately suffer from trauma and other mental health disorders—ketamine can offer short-term relief. But longer term use can have the opposite effect.

When Lucas Pearson first tried ketamine at 23 years old outside a nightclub in…