The global burden of suicide rate is real and it has only increased ever since we have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus has taken a toll on our mental health and in the view of it, Johnson & Johnson's have come up with a nasal spray that intends to help people with suicidal tendencies. The major antidepressant nasal spray has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday. Johnson & Johnson’s Spravato nasal spray becomes the first antidepressant supplement to help treat acutely suicidal patients. Johnson & Johnson's Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine Protects Monkeys in a Single Dose, US Firm Kicks-Off Human Safety Trials.

The U.S. medical community has been concerned about the effects of the novel coronavirus on the nation’s mental health and people with suicidal tendencies and hence this step has been taken to help curb the issue. According to a news release received by the media, the new nasal spray is fast-acting and it is approved only when taken with an oral antidepressant. The spray is intended to treat “depressive symptoms in adults with major depressive disorder with acute suicidal ideation or behavior.”

The quick-acting formula is called “potentially life changing”, as per Theresa Nguyen, Chief Program Officer for Mental Health America. This nasal spray is said to be an easy way to help people with major depressive disorder and suicidal tendencies. Experts are of the opinion that the traditional oral antidepressants often need weeks or more to take effect unlike this nasal spray. “Many people who live with depression know all too well the feeling of desperation. If that major depression progresses to active suicidal thoughts, it’s crushing, and they need options to help change the trajectory of their acute depressive episode,” Nguyen said in the news release.

The approval means the quick-acting nasal spray will be available to people “with suicidal thoughts and a plan to put them into action,” or roughly 12% of as many as 17 million Americans suffering from a major depressive disorder, says Michelle Kramer, vice president of J&J’s U.S. neuroscience medical-affairs unit to Bloomberg.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 04, 2020 06:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).