That's a bad way to put it, not that I'm saying sleep deprivation is a good idea. In the case of ketamine, the improvement might be produced by a metabolic der

That's a bad way to put it, not that I'm saying sleep deprivation is a good idea. In the case of ketamine, the improvement might be produced by a metabolic derivative with fewer side-effects than ketamine [1]. And it improves the connectivity of the brain [2] [3], so most likely doesn't make the patient "less sharp". For what it's worth, exercise can have the same effect [4]. [1] https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/05/understanding-ketamine-to-make-a-fast-acting-safe-antidepressant/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/05/understanding-ketami... [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25613382 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25613382 [3] https://www.ted.com/talks/rebecca_brachman_could_a_drug_prevent_depression_and_ptsd/ https://www.ted.com/talks/rebecca_brachman_could_a_drug_prev... [4] https://elifesciences.org/articles/15092 https://elifesciences.org/articles/15092