Ketamine addiction making teenagers wet the bed, says UK’s first specialist clinic

A rising number of children affected by ketamine addiction are experiencing severe bladder issues, to the point that some resort to using incontinence pads or urinating into buckets beside their beds at night. This troubling phenomenon has prompted Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool to establish the UK’s first specialist clinic dedicated to addressing the urological complications linked to ketamine misuse among young people.

Harriet Corbett, a consultant paediatric urologist at the clinic, described the severity of the symptoms: “Some of our patients start wetting the bed or find going to the bathroom at night is actually too hard, so they’ll either choose incontinence products or a bucket by the bed.” She added that many children have reached a stage where the urgency to urinate outweighs their desire for privacy, with some likely experiencing incontinence without disclosing it to the medical staff. Most patients seen at the clinic are around 14 or 15 years old, with reports indicating that some began using ketamine as young as 12.

Ketamine’s harmful effects stem from the drug and its metabolites lingering in the bladder for prolonged periods, which damages the bladder lining and muscle tissue. This damage causes inflammation and reduces the bladder’s capacity, resulting in symptoms such as an urgent and frequent need to urinate. In the most extreme cases, this condition can necessitate bladder removal or lead to kidney complications. Corbett emphasized the importance of early intervention to prevent irreversible damage, stating, “We need to shout loudly about this because if we can encourage them to stop using, that will potentially save themselves a miserable life of medical interventions. There is a point at which you can’t recover.”

Despite the growing concern, detailed information on the extent of ketamine use among young people in the UK is limited. A 2023 NHS England survey involving over 13,000 students reported that 0.9% of 15-year-olds had used ketamine, nearly doubling the 0.4% reported in 2013, while 11% had been offered the drug. However, healthcare professionals suspect these figures may underestimate the true prevalence. Professor Rachel Isba, who co-manages the clinic, highlighted the challenge in identifying ketamine-related health issues, saying, “There are probably many other children and young people out there who have bladder symptoms, or non-specific tummy pain, which may be due to their ketamine use but you need somebody to make the connection.” She also noted that many general practitioners and paediatricians in the UK are unfamiliar with clinical cases involving ketamine use among children.

The establishment of the clinic followed an initial small number of cases in 2023, which grew steadily into a significant rise by 2025. Corbett reflected on the trend, saying, “The numbers were going up and I was beginning to think, wow, this could be a problem. What are we going to do? It’s on everyone’s radar now because it’s snowballed; it’s gone a bit crazy.” Combining Corbett’s urological expertise with Isba’s experience in addiction medicine, the clinic provides a comprehensive approach to treatment and rehabilitation referrals for young patients.

The reasons behind the increased ketamine use among adolescents remain unclear. Isba suggested that social use can escalate into addiction, often leading individuals to use the drug alone in their bedrooms. Many patients have histories of childhood trauma or neurodivergence, particularly ADHD. Reflecting on patients’ perspectives, Isba said, “Ket is great, it’s a break from your busy brain or just a bit of a rest. They want to belong. So they feel if they don’t participate, they won’t be able to. We’ve heard stories of young people who’ve changed the entire way they go about their day in order to avoid being exposed to other people’s ketamine use.” Another troubling development is that some children begin using ketamine to manage pain caused by their bladder conditions, creating a harmful cycle of dependency. Corbett commented, “When they get bad bladder pain, for some of the only pain relief they find that is helpful is ketamine. So they get into a very nasty downward spiral.”

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