Active clinical trials for "Depression"

The present study evaluates the effects of the visit prior to hospital admission on anxiety, depression and satisfaction of family in an intensive care unit.

Suicidal behaviors (SB) are a major health problem in France : 10 000 suicides and 220 000 suicide attempts every year. SB management is therefore a major public health issue. Evidence associated dysregulation of the serotonergic system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to vulnerability to SB. Recent data point to linke these abnormalities with neuroinflammatory clues, glutamatergic function and neuronal plasticity. There is a need to better understand the physiopathology and develop diagnostic and therapeutic tools in SB. The investigators hypothesize that increased peripheral biomarkers of inflammation would correlate to a disturbance of the cerebral metabolites, such as glutamate and NAA, especially in suicidal patients. Our aim is to compare rates of cerebral metabolites, in particular the complex glutamine/glutamate, in cerebral areas involved in suicidal vulnerability (the anterior cingulate cortex and the orbito-frontal cortex) between person with unipolar disorder with and without suicidal attempt.

This project is designed to examine the neuronal KCNQ2/3 potassium (K+) channel subtype as a novel treatment target for mood disorders through the administration of the KCNQ-selective channel opener ezogabine (Potiga, GlaxoSmithKline; FDA-approved for the treatment of seizure disorders).

Mental health issues in post-treatment adult cancer survivors are associated with multiple adverse outcomes and may represent a cancer health disparity for rural survivors. The purpose of this study is to test a stepped-care approach tailored to symptom severity based on recent American Society of Clinical Oncology guidelines for reducing emotional distress (anxiety and/or depressive symptoms) and improving secondary outcomes (sleep disturbance, fatigue, fear of recurrence, quality of life) in rural, post-treatment cancer survivors in community oncology settings and to examine intervention costs. The resultant intervention will have great potential for widespread dissemination since it will be manualized, delivered by telephone, and comprised of modules to allow customized treatments for individuals with different cancer types.

The goal of this study is to implement such an approach conceptualized by a community health worker (CHW) to pilot an innovative, multi-level intervention to address social and structural determinants that negatively influence MEH disparities for Latinas from low-income households. The proposed research integrates CHW navigation with group peer support. Both of these strategies have been shown to be culturally appropriate and effective for improving a variety of health outcomes with this population. Our transdisciplinary, community-engaged team will use a convergent parallel mixed method research design to assess the feasibility of the intervention and its impact on six domains of interest: 1) emotional support, 2) informational support, 3) depression, 4) social isolation, 5) empowerment, and 6) social determinants needs. To prepare for future extramural funding, the investigators will include development of an advocacy plan for multi-level social change impact.

In the middle of this century, coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common cause of death in the United States. Chinese health service survey showed that about 1000,0000 ~ 320,000 people were suffering from CHD in the mainland of China in 2008. The high mortality and morbidity of CHD will aggravate the psychological burden of patients, such as depression. Depression is the most psychological problem in CHD patients. The incidence of depression in Chinese population was in the range of 4%~6%, while it was as high as 14%~17% in patients with CHD. Depression not only affects the patients' illness, but also reducing their quality of life, the compliance of drugs and lifestyle. In addition, depression is a major risk factor for the mortality and morbidity of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it's urgently needed to screen and treat the depression of patients with CHD. At present, the treatment of depression in patients with CHD mainly includes antidepressant, cognitive behavioral therapy， psychological counseling, knowledge education, relaxation therapy and so on. However, the medicine would yield side - effect. Furthermore, the content of psychological interventions are not systematic and dynamic. Moreover, patients' depressive level varies in different periods, the traditional psychological intervention just focused on the ultimate psychological benefits, and cannot analyze some factors and staged results in the process of psycho-behavioral change. Thus, an dynamic and effective intervention to alleviate depression in patients with CHD is imperative.

Interpersonal Counseling (IPC) is brief, structured modification of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT). IPC was developed as a brief triage manual to treat depression in primary care, family practice and non-mental health programs, and work and educational settings. College and university students are at the age where first episodes of depression, bipolar disorder, or psychosis may occur. IPC is relevant for this population as many university students' distress are related to profound life changes, role transitions, loneliness and social/cultural isolation, which are focuses of treatment in IPC. While there is considerable evidence for the efficacy of IPT and IPC, this adaptation for university students has not yet been studied. The investigators propose to administer IPC to across several college campuses, and to recruit 20 participants at each counseling center. Participants will receive 3-6 one-hour therapy sessions, and will complete self-report measures of depression, psychosocial functioning, college adjustment, and treatment satisfaction. IPC has the potential to reduce depressive symptoms and prevent presenting symptoms from worsening. For these reasons, developing and testing a brief, yet comprehensive psychosocial intervention for distressed college students has tremendous importance.

Randomised, controlled, parallel-group, pilot clinical trial of ketamine vs. midazolam as an adjunctive therapy for depression. The main purpose of the pilot study is to assess trial processes to help inform a future definitive trial.

This is a randomized comparative effectiveness trial to improve outcomes among pregnant and post-partum women with symptoms of depression. Both interventions under study will be based in the patient-centered medical home setting at Boston Medical Center - specifically, in prenatal clinic or in the general pediatrics clinic. The study is a type 1 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of 230 mothers with clinically significant depressive symptomatology. Of the 230 subjects, half will receive the Engagement-Focused Care Coordination intervention; the other half will receive the Problem Solving Education intervention. Outcomes for mothers will be assessed every 2 months throughout a 12 month follow-up period. This trial is funded by a contract with PCORI, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

The stress-related hormone cortisol has been studied in depression for decades. However, relatively little is known about the role of cortisol in psychological features of depression. Basic research shows that cortisol modulates brain processes that are highly relevant to depression (especially the neural substrates of negative biases in learning and memory formation). However, very few studies have directly examined the effects of cortisol on neural circuitry of learning in depressed humans. In addition, the effects of cortisol on the neural substrates of learning differ for males and females. The toll of depression is especially high in women, who are roughly twice as likely as men to suffer from depression. Thus, the primary goal of this project is to investigate the effects of cortisol on the neural circuitry of learning in depressed women. A secondary goal is to investigate whether early life adversity moderates cortisol's effects on the neural circuitry of learning. Animal data suggests that early life adversity causes life-long biases toward learning in threatening conditions associated with elevated cortisol. In addition, new data from humans suggests that alterations in cortisol traditionally ascribed to depression may stem in part from early adversity rather than depression per se. Thus, this study will examine effects of cortisol on the neural circuitry of learning in depressed and healthy women with and without history of early life adversity. The study will use pharmacological manipulation of cortisol levels (compared to placebo) during measurement of brain activity at rest and during memory encoding of emotional and neutral stimuli. The study will also measure whether cortisol alters the negative biases in emotional memory often seen in depression. In doing so, the study will examine the role of cortisol in neural networks associated with emotional learning that are often implicated in depression. Medications that target cortisol receptors in the brain may be beneficial in the treatment of depression. However, this knowledge has yet to inform clinical practice, and mechanisms of action of these medications are not well understood. This project is significant because it provides the prerequisite knowledge (and develops a paradigm) that can be used in the future in the development of more effective targeted intervention strategies.