Active clinical trials for "Depressive Disorder, Major"

This is an ancillary study to a clinical trial that is being conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital. Investigators at MGH are conducting a clinical trial to test the efficacy of ziprasidone together with escitalopram for treatment-resistant depression (NCT00633399). This observational study will involve magnetic resonance scans to examine brain chemistry (neurotransmitter levels), brain activity, and functional connections between brain regions before and after participating in the trial. The neurotransmitters of interest are glutamate, glutamine, and GABA. Comparisons will be made between individuals who receive ziprasidone and individuals who receive an inactive placebo. Differences between participants who respond to standard antidepressants and those who require additional medication will also be examined. All participants will have a baseline magnetic resonance scan before starting medication. The second scan will be after 8 weeks of escitalopram treatment for those who respond or following 8 weeks of escitalopram plus ziaprasidone or placebo (16 weeks after starting) for those who do not respond to escitalopram alone. Participants will complete standard rating scales for depression at each visit.

In this study, the differential effectiveness of CBT and IPT for patients with Major Depressive Disorder, who rate their depression as mild or moderate, will be studied. Both methods are evidence based and recommended by the National Board of Health in Sweden. They are manual based and the patients will receive 14 sessions in each therapy. Their comparative effectiveness has not been studied in Sweden, and their effectiveness with regard to work capacity has not been tested. The hypotheses in the study are that they have equal effect for depression remission, but that CBT is superior when return to work is measured. Three moderator analyses, testing effects for different subgroups, will be made. They propose that patients with attachment avoidance and lower mentalization ability and male patients will have better outcome with CBT. The study will be performed at Sundsvall Hospital, in cooperation with Linköping University. Sundsvall hospital is the only hospital in Sweden where there is a group IPT therapists large enough to make a controlled study possible. The study has a randomized design, with 16 therapists, 8 of them delivering CBT and 8 IPT. The number of patients is 96. The statistical power is .87, with a hypothesized between-groups effect size of d = .40 for return to work, and the significance level of .05 for the between-groups difference. Outcome will be measured as remission of psychiatric diagnosis, decrease in depression severity and frequency of patients who return to work. Both intent-to-treat and completers analyses will be made. The project will go over two years. The study has an effectiveness character in the sense that treatments, although manual based, will be performed in the manner that the therapists usually work, and by having broad inclusion criteria. Treatment integrity will be ascertained by therapist reports and by filming sessions.

Depression and bipolar disorder are major public health concerns for adolescents today. Teenage depression and bipolar disorder are associated with social isolation, family stress, school failure, substance abuse and suicide. Screening for depression and bipolar disorder so that treatment can be started early in the course of illness is an urgent public health priority. Many teens with bipolar disorder are incorrectly diagnosed as having unipolar depression. It is critical that adolescents receive proper screening and assessment that leads to an accurate diagnosis and treatment. An efficient, cost-effective, blood-based screening program could be performed on an annual or semi-annual basis to potentially detect depression and then differentiate between unipolar and bipolar depression. If this type of screening were able to detect a significant percentage of teens with depression or bipolar disorder, the positive impact on U.S. public health would be substantial. The purpose of this study is to conduct a pilot study to assess the probability of detecting adolescent unipolar and bipolar depression through blood samples.

The purpose of this study is to explore whether electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) accidentally leads to a side effect of brain inflammation. Patients with treatment resistant depression who are planning to take ECT will be subsequently approached to participate in the study.

This is a phase II, randomized, sham controlled, clinical trial. This clinical trial has as primary objective to evaluate the effect of the Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation (TNS) on depressive symptoms measured by the Hamilton Depressive Rating Scale version 17 items (HDRS-17) in patients with moderate / severe depressive episode.

Primary Outcome Measures: Evaluate the changes in neuroimaging and biochemistry measures with ketamine treatment. Secondary Outcome Measures: Evaluate the effects of ketamine on depression symptoms, manic symptoms, global change in psychiatric symptoms, and suicidal ideation.

The purpose of this study is to establish the clinical effectiveness of antidepressants by pharmacogenomic approach, and to determine the levels of inflammatory factors between the baseline and the end point of the study in Taiwanese major depressive disorder (MDD) patients.

This is a randomized, double-blind multi centric clinic study. Both of therapist and patient are blind. There are 180 patients from 3 hospitals included, who meet DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder, the score of HAMD-item>20，<35；and meet the criteria for TCM syndrome of "Liver Qi stagnation and Transformation of Stagnant Qi into Fire". Patients are randomized to JWXY and sertraline treatment groups, receiving oral sertraline (start with 50 mg/day for one week then continue with 50 mg/day) plus placebo of JWXYJN; or oral JWXYJN plus placebo of sertraline daily for 2 months. The symptoms of depression and anxiety are measured with HAMD and HAMA tests at baseline and at 2，4，8 weeks; and LFT, BUN, Cr are assessed at baseline and end of program. Then data will be analyzed with SPSS software to determine the efficacy and safety of JWXYJN comparing to sertraline in the treatment of mild to moderate major depressive disorder.

Preliminary studies suggest that the response to antidepressant medication can be accelerated by targeting insomnia with adjunctive use of eszopiclone. It is not yet known what mechanism(s) support this acceleration in response, though preliminary findings support the hypothesis that early restoration of sleep may facilitate BDNF-based effects of antidepressant medications. The optimal duration of co-treatment is also unknown. This study will test specific hypotheses about brain mechanisms and evaluate the effects of continued eszopiclone beyond the time window when response acceleration should be observed.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness and possible mediating factors of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for recurrent depression.