Active clinical trials for "Mental Disorders"

This is a Phase 3, 38-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, outpatient study in subjects with psychosis associated with Alzheimer's Disease. The primary objective of the study is to evaluate relapse prevention in subjects with psychosis associated with Alzheimer's Disease treated with KarXT compared to placebo. The secondary objectives of the study are to evaluate the time from randomization to discontinuation for any reason and safety and tolerability in subjects with psychosis associated with Alzheimer's Disease treated with KarXT compared to placebo.

The purpose of this randomized, sham-controlled study is to evaluate the effectiveness of DBS therapy in individuals suffering from severe OCD and to investigate DBS treatment with functional [18F]FDG-Brain-PET.

This study is to examine the effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy applied to patients in early psychosis patients on psychotic symptoms and functionality levels.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) offers robust vocational programming that have helped countless Veterans obtain competitive employment; however, these services are not uniformly effective as recent data suggests that only 35 to 43% of Veterans are competitively employed at time of discharge. For those who become competitively employed, job tenure may be brief, which is often attenuated by underemployment or poor person-job fit. Moreover, only 3.5% of Veterans experiencing vocational problems engage in vocational services offered by the VHA. On average, it takes Veterans more than four years to utilize vocational services. These Veterans are at high risk of acquiring multiple functional losses and developing chronic disabilities as their vocational needs go unmet for years. Research suggests that intrinsic factors like lacking clear vocational goals, perceiving barriers to employment, and negative beliefs about one's ability to work contribute to low engagement, outcomes, and tenure of some consumers of vocational rehabilitation services. Thus, the VA may be able to improve vocational engagement, outcomes, and tenure of Veterans with psychiatric disorders by enhancing vocational services with added interventions targeting unhelpful psychological factors. Career counseling and development services have been shown to be effective in helping civilian populations clarify vocational goals and identity, enhance vocational self-efficacy, and increase proactive vocational behaviors in the face of obstacles. Additionally, career counseling and development services help facilitate greater "match" between a person and their job, and person-job match is a key determinant of long-term career tenure among individual with psychiatric disorders. The researchers of this project propose a three-aim study to develop a career counseling and development intervention for Veterans with psychiatric disorders (Purposeful Pathways). The first aim will focus on the design and development of the Purposeful Pathways intervention with veteran and provider input (n=16). The second aim will pilot test the intervention in an open trial (n=10) to gather Veteran input on the initial intervention. The third and final aim will consist of a feasibility pilot randomized controlled trial (n=50) to examine acceptability and feasibility outcomes and to explore the impact of the Purposeful Pathways intervention in terms of functional improvement and other vocational outcomes. Purposeful Pathways consists of up to 12 individual sessions that will be offered concurrently with existing VHA vocational rehabilitation services, (e.g., transitional work experience [TWE]). The final product of this study is to produce a manual of Purposeful Pathways, and corresponding fidelity monitoring checklist, to be tested later in a larger efficacy trial.

Comorbid insomnia represents a frequent health problem in patients with severe mental disorders, and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) has been identified as the first line treatment. However, CBT-I has not sufficiently been implemented in acute psychiatry settings. Rather, patients are often overtreated with benzodiazepines or benzodiazepine receptor agonists, related to adverse effects and the risk of tolerance and dependency. This work aims to empower patients with severe mental disorders to take care of their own sleep health based on a pragmatic behavioral treatment program ("Become your own SLEEPexpert"). Implementation research strategies in collaboration with patients and health care providers were used to adaptat CBT-I components to the needs of psychiatric inpatients. Evidence for feasibility in an acute hospital setting and preliminary evidence for efficacy has been shown. ln the proposed project, the investigators aim to compare treatment as usual (TAU) + SLEEPexpert to TAU + sleep monitoring in a pilot randomized controlled trial. The objective is to target sleep to improve mental health and to investigate the efficacy of the SLEEPexpert programme for the improvement of sleep and mental health. Given the high burden of comorbid insomnia in psychiatry, the investigators believe that the presented work is of interest to basic scientists and clinicians and, potentially, of heightened public health relevance.

Introduction: Oxytocin (OT) is a nine-amino acid neuropeptide, known to have a fundamental role in social communication. In a recent randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study carried out in Shalvata Mental Health Center, OT was administrated to patients suffering from severe mental health illness. The results indicated that OT has a clear beneficial effect on therapeutic outcomes. However, to our knowledge, the effect of OT administration to both patients and therapists on the therapeutic process was never tested. Substance administration to caregivers is therefore possible, and could, in some cases, provide further knowledge about the caregiving dynamics. Since we know the therapist's characteristics effect the therapeutic alliance and that OT is associated with the therapeutic alliance, patient-therapist bond, and therapy outcome, we are led to ask if OT administration to patients and therapists could allow for a deeper understanding of OT's effects on the therapeutic process. Another variable found to be associated with the therapeutic process is Physiological Synchronization. Physiological Synchronization (PS) is a primarily interpersonal phenomenon which includes coordination of physiological signals between two or more interacting individuals. Despite the rising number of studies examining PS, its physiological and psychological mechanisms are yet to be fully understood. Based on literature indicating associations between OT and PS, and associations each of them has with the therapeutic process and its facilitators, in this study we wish to examine the influence of OT on PS through intranasal OT administration to patients alone and to patients and therapists together. Research Hypotheses: Patients receiving OT will demonstrate higher levels of PS during the measured session compared to patients receiving placebo. Patients receiving OT will report higher levels of perceived therapist empathy as compared to patients receiving placebo. These associations will be stronger when both patient and therapist receive OT in comparison to patient alone. Changed in PS and empathy will be associated with OT even after controlling for patient rated alliance and session impact. These findings will sustain after controlling for severity of symptoms and attachment patterns. Method: Participants. Sixty patients and their therapists will be recruited for the pilot study. Patients will be recruited from the inpatient adult psychiatric wards at Shalvata Mental Health Center. Therapists in this study will be comprised of psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers, in different stages of seniority and training. Instruments. Attachment patterns, symptom severity, side effects and therapeutic process measurements - working alliance, perceived empathy and session impact - will be assessed using self-report questionnaires. PS will be measured by recordings of the electrodermal activity (EDA) measured by skin conductance signals, using a galvanic skin response (GSR) device. Oxytocin Administration will be performed intranasally using a spray containing 24U. Procedure. Sixty patients meeting inclusion criteria and their therapists will be recruited for the pilot study. Dyads will be randomized and double-blindly allocated to receive intra-nasal oxytocin or placebo. Dyads will be followed for two consecutive sessions, approximately at their fourth and fifth sessions. After signing informed consent forms, patients and therapists will complete therapeutic process measurements, and patients will be assessed for the severity of their symptoms and attachment patterns. Prior to the first session, patients will be administrated with either IN-OT or PLC and will wait for 30 minutes before the beginning of the session. Skin conductance synchrony will be measured during the session. At the end of the session, therapeutic process measurements will be assessed in both patients and therapists, and patients will complete a side-effect questionnaire. Prior to the second session, both patients and therapists will receive either IN-OT or PLC (each dyad will receive the same substance) and will wait for 30 minutes before the beginning of the session. Skin conductance synchrony will then be measured during the session. At the end of the session, therapeutic process measurements will be assessed in both patients and therapists alongside with a side-effect questionnaire. The uniqueness of the proposed study is rooted in the view of the psychotherapy dyad as undetached, by focusing on the dyad and not on the patient alone. Focusing on patient-therapist synchronization lies on the understanding of the patient-therapist bond as co-dependent and co-affected. Such research could increase our understanding of PS between patient and therapist and its meaning in psychotherapy research and practice.

Bipolar disorder is a severe and disabling disorder. The course of illness is often progressive but is highly heterogeneous between individuals and within the lifetime for an individual. The most common treatments are medications. However, for many individuals, combinations of medications are often required, and full recovery is infrequent. The novel brain stimulation treatment, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), is a potential first-line treatment for bipolar depression. The present research question is whether tDCS can be provided as a home-based treatment for bipolar depression for adults with bipolar disorder.

The goal of this clinical trial is to estimate the importance of neuroimaging in accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation (aiTBS) for depression. Participants will receive aiTBS treatment, but they will not know if their treatment spot was found with neuroimaging or head measurements.

The study is a feasibility study of a combined high intensity aerobic and strenght exercise program for persons with psychotic disorders. The feasibility of the protocol will be investigated, in addition to the participants subjective experience with the participation.

Psychotic disorders often develop a chronic course with devastating consequences for individuals, families, and societies usually with first onset during adolescence and early adulthood. Early intervention programs, which provide intensive, phase specific, psychosocial, and pharmacological treatment for people in the first five years after the initial psychotic episode (early psychosis) can significantly improve the outcome and are therefore strongly recommended in national and international guidelines. However, most early intervention programs in people with early psychosis still focus on improving symptoms and relapse prevention, rather than targeting educational and vocational recovery, although engagement in work and education is a high priority for young people with early psychosis and reduces the social disability associated with the disorder. The aim of the present study is to explore the effects of Supported Employment and Education (SEE) following the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model in people with early psychosis. The investigators compare treatment as usual (TAU) in an outpatient psychiatric setting to TAU plus SEE.