- News
- Health
Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, is commonly used as a painkiller but researchers say it could also be used to treat depression
Rebecca WhittakerSunday 30 November 2025 23:30 GMTComments
CloseSkips full of laughing gas canisters collected in Notting Hill Carnival cleanup
Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health
Get our free Health Check email
Get our free Health Check email
Email*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice
Laughing gas could offer rapid-acting treatment for depression, a study has found.
Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, is a colourless gas that is inhaled and commonly used as a painkiller.
The gas, which was banned for recreational use in 2023, can make people feel light-headed, dizzy and relaxed - but heavy use can lead to a vitamin B12 deficiency, which can damage nerves in the spinal cord.
But the drug, which is still legal for medical use, has been shown to offer fast-acting depressive symptom relief for adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) and treatment-resistant depression (TRD).
Researchers say it could be especially beneficial for the 48 per cent of patients who have not responded to first-line antidepressants.
Nitrous oxide could be used to help treat depression, researchers find (Getty/iStock)“Depression is a debilitating illness, made even more so by the fact that antidepressants make no meaningful difference for almost half of all patients diagnosed with it,” said Kiranpreet Gill, a PhD researcher funded by the Medical Research Council at the University of Birmingham and first author of the study.
“Our analyses show that nitrous oxide could form part of a new generation of rapid-acting treatments for depression.”
For the study published in the journal eBioMedicine, researchers from the University of Birmingham, University of Oxford, and Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust assessed seven clinical trials and four protocol papers published by investigators from around the world.
Each research study looked at the use of nitrous oxide for treating depressive disorders, including MDD, TRD and bipolar depression.
Researchers found that a single treatment of inhaled clinical nitrous oxide at 50 per cent concentration produced rapid and significant reductions in depressive symptoms within 24 hours. But these effects did not last longer than a week.
However, when the dose was spread out over several weeks, it led to longer-lasting effects.
The drug is thought to target glutamate receptors, which are vital for learning and memory, in a similar way to ketamine - another rapid-acting antidepressant. Study authors say this may explain why improvements in mood can be observed soon after inhalation.
David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, who believes the ban on nitrous oxide was political, has written about the clinical value of the drug.
He told The Independent: “It's called laughing gas because it removes the natural tension and anxiety we all have in our brains, so it allows people to become relaxed and happy instantly.
“It changes the brain blood flow and so probably disrupts the brain circuits of depression.”
Researchers in the study examined the safety and potential side effects of nitrous oxide. Some patients experienced side effects such as nausea, dizziness and headaches, all of which passed quickly and resolved without medical intervention.
Although higher doses at 50 per cent concentration increased the likelihood of these side effects, researchers did not have any short-term safety concerns.
But researchers stressed that longer-term safety must be assessed through future studies.
Professor Steven Marwaha, from the University of Birmingham and senior author of the study, said: “This is a significant milestone in understanding the potential of nitrous oxide as an added treatment option for patients with depression who have been failed by current treatments. This population has often lost hope of recovery, making the results of this study particularly exciting.”
More about
nitrous oxideLaughing gasdepressionStudyJoin our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments
