non-addictive "heroin-like" antidepressant on the horizon?

Yeah, I understand the concern about the buprenorphine.  I think it depends a lot on the dosing level (and whatever else it is mixed with).

Keith Ablow is just the psychiatrist reporting on it.  As far as I can tell, he is not involved in any way in the studies of the drug.

Lora

There's a line where buprenorphine becomes quite difficult to completely withdraw from, I think it's around 3-4 months of use. So maintenance users can have a really atrocious time once they taper all the way down and then eliminate their final dose. That's one of my concerns with this.

The other is if it's really non-addictive. If the other substance in the medication does indeed block it from inducing euphoria and minimizes the physical dependency, ie works as indended that's amazing and a huge advancement. But if it doesn't do everything it's supposed to... it could be big trouble. Buprenorphine is actually addictive, as you know that's why here it's almost always dispensed to addicts as suboxone since the naloxone that's in that formulation forces them to use it in the clinically appropriate manner or get sick. But if you have plain old buprenorphine and shoot it up you can get high. There was actually a study I remember reading about a few years ago where they treated patients, IIRC treatment refractory MDD patients, with buprenorpine and had good results. If they can figure out a way to replicate that without the risks that would be incredible.