Abstract
Treatment for specific phobia, an anxiety disorder characterized by unreasonable fears related to specific objects or situations, is limited to psychological interventions with no approved drug treatments. Recent research identified an incidental effect of low-dose injected ketamine on anxiety ratings for a specific phobia (blood/needle phobia). This study aimed to extend this finding by using oral ketamine (minimal side effects), a more common phobia (spider phobia), and a more controllable experimental paradigm (virtual reality (VR) exposure), in a cross-over active-controlled design.