Active clinical trials for "Depressive Disorder"

Joiner's interpersonal theory of suicide postulates that the wish of death comes from feelings of perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness. But, only people who have acquired the capability to kill themselves will attempt suicide. The acquired capability refers to a reduction of fear to death, and a higher pain tolerance. Indeed, to commit suicide involves to endure pain during the act. Thus, higher pain tolerance seems to be a necessary feature for suicidal act. Past studies have shown higher pain threshold and tolerance in suicidal patients, whatever the stimulus was (electric, thermic or mechanical), compared to patients without suicide history. Moreover, Caceda and colleagues demonstrated higher pain threshold in recent suicide attempters (suicidal act within 72h) compared with depressed patients. Five days after the initial evaluation, pain threshold of recent suicide attempters decreased to be similar to depressed patients with suicidal ideation. Therefore, it may exist a specific state during which the pain tolerance is increased. During this "hypoalgesic state" patients with suicidal ideation could attempt suicide to get relief from suffering. However, little is known about the specific mechanisms that are responsible for the higher pain threshold and tolerance in suicide attempters. Pain is a dynamic system that results from excitatory and inhibitory messages. The modification of one of these mechanisms could explain the higher tolerance in recent suicide attempters. Three of them are of particular interest: The conditioned pain modulation (CPM) is a modulatory pain mechanism. CPM works through descending pathway that reaches the spinal cord and modulates pain processing from the first nociceptive synapse.In recent suicidal patients, an increase of the CPM could explain higher pain tolerance. The "wind-up" mechanism is defined as the highest excitability of the second order nerve. Even if the stimulus remains stable, pain continuously raises. In recent suicide attempters, a reduction of this mechanism could explain higher pain tolerance. The threshold of Aδ and C nociceptors. If a nociceptive fiber is less excitable than the other, it would explain higher pain threshold.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about the effects of phase-targeted auditory stimulation in depressed patients and healthy controls. The main questions it aims to answer are: Is auditory down-phase stimulation efficient in improving depression symptoms as compared to sham stimulation? Can mood and other outcomes be prospectively estimated by multi-parametric passive data? Participants will perform auditory stimulation using a wearable device at home and provide data on their phone usage and activity. Researchers will compare depressed patients and healthy participants to see if auditory down-phase stimulation effects them differently.

Depression is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and this comorbidity contributes significantly to the morbidity and mortality of women. The menopausal transition or perimenopause is a period of vulnerability for both depression and CVD, making it a key time to study this critical public health issue. This research will preliminarily explore whether disruption in two novel stress pathways 1) the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and autonomic nervous system (ANS) and their relationship may underlie the link between these illnesses. Findings will provide important insight into potential mechanisms by which depression during perimenopause may increase risk for CVD in midlife women, which will inform potential risk reduction and treatment strategies that can improve health outcomes in this population.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of baby massage on postpartum depression and maternal attachment in the postpartum period.

The main aim of this research is to explore the effects that ketamine has on the functional connectivity of the brain in participants with treatment resistant depression (TRD). This study will investigate the relationship between these changes and response to treatment as measured by clinical scales, as well as examining drug induced changes in reward and emotion based brain activity, structural connectivity, cerebral blood flow, cognition, metabolism and blood markers of brain plasticity.

Patients seeking mental health care and those being discharged from psychiatric units frequently express psychological distress. A lack of routine follow-up and tailored support during these critical stages of a patient's journey can weaken the patient's connection to the health care system, resulting in low adherence and dissatisfaction with treatment, and the need for more intensive therapies. These unfavourable outcomes may result in deterioration of the patient's mental health, readmissions, recurrent emergency department (ED) visits, and extended length of stay (LOS). The investigators propose implementing an add-on supportive text messaging service (Text4Support), developed using cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) principles to augment mental health support for patients accessing different degrees of psychiatric care in Nova Scotia. The primary objective is to investigate the effectiveness of Text4Support, compared to usual care, in improving clinical mental health outcomes and overall mental wellbeing among participants. Secondary objective is to examine the impact of Text4Support on health services utilization and patient satisfaction. Lastly, investigators will explore Text4Support implementation outcomes. This will be a multicenter, mixed-methods, longitudinal, prospective, parallel, two-arm, rater-blinded randomized controlled trial. Participants will be randomized into two arms: the intervention arm will receive the usual care, plus daily automated supportive text messages from an online application, and the control arm will receive the usual care, which includes the freely accessible Health Authority approved e-mental health services. It is planned to enrol at least 1500 participants. Quantitative data will be analyzed using repeated measures mixed-effects modelling, effect size analysis, and correlational analysis between measures at each time point on an intention-to-treat basis. Qualitative data analysis will be guided by the six-phase thematic analysis framework. The analysis of the implementation outcomes will be guided by the RE-AIM framework. The results of the study will provide important information with respect to a comprehensive evaluation of outcomes of a supportive daily text message program; comparability of a supportive daily text message program compared with care as usual; and the impact of a supportive daily text message program on clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction and health services utilization.

This study is a single-blind, multicenter, randomized, controlled crossover trial. The App, developed in South Korea, is an application that provides integrated interventions for stress reduction for the general population. The App provides three contents based on MBSR, CBT, and relaxation sounds that are known to be effective in stress reduction ("Meditation category", "Cognitive approach", and "Relaxation Sound", respectively). Participants (n = 215) recruited via medical practitioner referral will be randomized to App first group (fAPP) or a waitlist crossover group (dAPP). Inclusion criteria are age 19-65; diagnosed with mild to moderate major depressive disorders (Score of 7-24 on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression); Stable medication for 28 days prior to study participation. The study was conducted over eight weeks, the fAPP group used The App for the first four weeks and the dAPP group for the next four weeks, and during all study periods, the participants received usual pharmacological treatment. Primary outcome measures are the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. The analysis will use mixed-model repeated measures.

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of ketamine on aesthetic perception and processing. This study assesses the role of these effects in facilitating ketamine's antidepressant properties, with a focus on anhedonia. To address this aim, 25 patients with major depressive disorder and 35 healthy controls will be assessed twice with magnetic resonance imaging, once after administration of intravenous ketamine (subanesthetic dose) and once after administration of placebo.This study has a single-center, placebo-controlled, cross-over study design. During MRI, structural, resting state, and functional imaging will be performed. Functional imaging will comprise aesthetic processing, reward, and sexual arousal paradigms. In addition, various neuropsychological scales assessing depressive symptoms, anhedonia, and aesthetic processing will be performed. Eligibility for participation will be assessed during a screening visit, a follow up visit will end study participation.

The proposed study is to test the effectiveness of a culturally-attuned, family-based mobile health (mHealth) intervention in reducing symptoms of postnatal depression and promoting health among expectant mothers in Hong Kong. Using a family perspective, the proposed mHealth intervention will engage family members, including expectant fathers and grandparents, in providing support to expectant mothers. Expectant mothers and their family members will be recruited at antenatal clinics at two public hospitals in Hong Kong and randomized to receive the family-based mHealth intervention (experimental), the mother-only mHealth intervention (experimental), or the health education (control). Maternal depression, anxiety and stress, perceived social support, health-related quality of life, and perceived family cohesion will be assessed at recruitment and four weeks after childbirth. For family members, symptoms of anxiety and stress, health-related quality of life, and perceived family cohesion will be measured.

We propose to study approach/avoidance behavior as measured by the Approach Avoidance task in 20 epilepsy patients undergoing implementation of depth electrodes for seizure monitoring in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at MGH. We will also study the effects of VC/VS electrical stimulation on approach-avoidance conflict in 20 adult patients who have undergone DBS implantation for severe MDD and/or OCD. There are 100-200 patients in the world with DBS electrodes in the VC/VS, and our research team cares for more than any other institution. Both participant groups will be assessed with respect to reward-aversion decision conflict using the task. The task will be performed with concurrent EEG recordings in DBS patients, and with continuous recording through our invasive neurophysiology rig in EMU subjects.