Elon Musk defends using prescribed ketamine for ‘negative frame of mind’

Tesla CEO dismisses suggestion his drug use could influence the perceptions of investors.

Elon Musk has defended taking ketamine to treat his “negative frame of mind,” suggesting that his prescribed use of the drug benefitted Tesla’s investors.

In an at-times tense interview with former CNN host Don Lemon, Musk said that he finds anaesthetic helpful when he is suffering from a “negative chemical state”.

“There are times when I have… depression that is not linked to any negative news, and then ketamine is helpful for getting one outside out of a negative frame of mind,” Musk said during an interview released on X on Monday.

Asked if he thought he had ever abused the drug, Musk, who owns X and runs Tesla and SpaceX, said he did not think so and that he only takes a “small amount” once every other week or so.

“If you’ve used too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done and I have a lot of work – I am typically putting in 16-hour days. That’s normal for me,” Musk said.