'Ketamine left me bedbound – now I help addicts'

A man who got to the point where he could "barely move" due to his ketamine addiction is helping others to get clean from the drug.

Adam Kennedy, 26, from Scunthorpe, says he "didn't have a life" as he took ketamine regularly for five years and suffered from very painful bladder issues, which eventually left him bedbound.

But he is now an addiction recovery worker at ReNew in Hull, supporting others trying to break their ketamine habits.

His appointment comes as the drug and alcohol addiction service premieres its new documentary, K-HOLE, which aims to raise awareness of how serious the effects of using the drug can be.

Ketamine was once seen as being a niche party drug, but it is now one of the fastest‑growing substances being used by young adults.

The number of 16 to 24‑year‑olds using ketamine has increased from 52,000 in 2012-13 to 222,000 in 2022-23, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

Adam started taking the drug at raves and festivals when he was 19, and his habit grew from something he did socially to something he did daily.

He says his addiction left him without a job, friends or a relationship, and "family life at home was really, really bad".

Describing how bad his addiction became, Adam says: "I was just laid up in bed the whole time and I could barely move. [The only] time I moved was to go pick up more or to go to the toilet."

Adam says he started suffering from ketamine-related bladder issues a year into his addiction – something he is now seeing in the people he is supporting.

"A recurring [thing] that I'm seeing is that because of the pain... people are using ketamine as self-medication," he says.

"So they're using more ketamine to take away the pain, which is causing more pain. It's just like a vicious, vicious cycle that keeps going round and round until it eventually has to break."

After five months in rehab and another five months in supported living, Adam began volunteering at a drug rehabilitation service in Scunthorpe, and that led to his role at ReNew in Hull.

Matthew Butler, a volunteer and community lead for ReNew, says the charity appointed Adam to work specifically with ketamine users after seeing a "sharp increase" in those aged 18 to 25 seeking help to quit the drug.

Since the existing support could help only up to 25 young people, the service created Adam's post to ensure more people struggling with ketamine addiction could get the support they needed.

He is currently supporting 13 young people in Hull with ketamine dependency.

ReNew says that in Hull, between January 2025 and August 2026, 133 people had cited ketamine as a problem drug during their referrals.

Matthew was shocked by what he found out about the drug when he was making the documentary, which will be available to watch and listen to online.

He says that unlike other drugs, where users may experience a range of side-effects, ketamine affected all users' bladders.

"If you've got four ketamine users using for two years, the chances are they're all going to experience the same things. It's not going to be just one out of the four of them," he says.

The documentary, which features stories from those working in the drugs service as well as those battling ketamine addiction from across the north of England, is part of a three-month campaign by ReNew to raise awareness.

"Really it is just about trying to increase referrals for people in Hull to come to get support for ketamine use and not to feel any shame or stigma about that decision," Matthew adds.

A spokesperson for the Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner in Humberside, which funded the documentary, says: "By amplifying the voices of those who have lived through the reality of ketamine addiction, we want to challenge the current culture, improve public safety and ensure young people and their families get the support they desperately need."

Adam says that since quitting ketamine his life has completely turned around.

"I'm able to go out and enjoy things now that I wasn't able to before," he explains.

"I'm able to actually plan and go do stuff now. I'm able to go further distances out if I want to go to do something. I've just got choices, I've got options now."

Referring to his relationship with his family now, he adds: "I can go golfing with my dad on a weekend now. You know, I can actually sit down and talk to my mum and dad now.

"Me and mum are like the same person – we've got the same banter and everything. So, yeah, we have long conversations. So it's good to just be able to talk to them again, [and] them not be worried as well."

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