Active clinical trials for "Psychotic Disorders"

In the first year of treatment after a FE of SCZ, 75% to 90% of patients achieve remission from psychotic symptoms. However, approximately 40% of FE patients are non-adherent to medication regimes and more than 60% have intermittent periods of gaps of non-adherence. Relapse rates are high with 82% of patients relapsing at least once within 5 years. Unfortunately even amongst those who do achieve full remission from psychotic symptoms, functional recovery remains a major challenge for patients. All the evidence suggests that individuals with SCZ do best with a combination of pharmacology and psychosocial intervention. Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) is gaining recognition as an effective treatment in SCZ and is in fact the only psychosocial treatment in SCZ with proven durability at short term follow-up. Although it is currently being used, the investigators need to learn more about the impact of CBT on FE SCZ especially as experts are advocating for CBT to be a critical component of FE clinical services.

Document the effectiveness of the "Respite Site" program in relation to the current health system. Document in particular the number and type of constraints, lengths of hospitalization and mode of exit, as well as the exit destination of psychotic homeless people.

People with a diagnosis of psychosis often experience low motivation and pleasure when thinking about doing future activities. This leads, quite understandably, to doing fewer activities they used to enjoy and not taking up opportunities to do new activities. One model suggests that this may be partly due to difficulties using memories of previous events to help boost motivation and anticipation before a future activity. Research shows that people with psychosis may recall previous events in less detail. These memories therefore may not be as helpful as they could be for motivation. This study will investigate this by asking people with experience of psychosis and low motivation who are seen by a care team in South London and Maudsley NHS Trust to attend two research sessions. In the first session they will be asked to recall memories of events from their lives and the researcher will assess how detailed they are and how much they refer to the past and future. Alongside this task people will also be asked to complete measures of symptoms such as low pleasure and motivation as well as a measure of depression. These will be used to find out if the detail and specificity of the memories are related to these symptoms in people with psychosis. The second half of the study will then investigate whether additional prompts to support positive memory retrieval can increase the specificity of this and subsequently improve mood, motivation and self-belief. Participants will be randomised to one of two groups. The clinical group will be guided through their memory recall using prompts and a control group will be asked to recall positive memories without prompts. If we show that supporting memory recall is beneficial then memories for past events may be an important target for future therapies.

A brief Mindfulness-Based Family Psychoeducation programme is developed to reduce the caregiver's stress and to promote young people's recovery. A randomized controlled trial will be conducted to compare a mindfulness-based family psychoeducation intervention, with an ordinary family psychoeducation intervention. 300 caregivers of a youth who have experienced early psychosis will be recruited. Programme effectiveness will be assessed by comparing outcomes measuring caregiver's perceived stress, positive well-being, and the young people's mental health symptoms. As part of the programme activity, Photovoice approach is selected to explore the complex family experiences and the benefits of mindfulness from the caregiver's personal perspectives. Caregivers can offer their voices about their burdens, and how mindfulness can benefit to the families through their involvement in a photo taking activity during the psychoeducation programme.

Parkinson's disease is often characterised by movement symptoms such as rigidity and bradykinesia, however, there are a number of non-motor symptoms that can have a significant impact on quality of life. One of the most common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease is visual hallucinations (where someone sees things that don't exist outside their mind). . Recent findings led to the approval of a drug called Pimavanserin as a treatment for PD psychosis in the USA. Based on other recent studies, we believe that Saracatinib, a drug that interacts within the same system as Pimavanserin, is a potential treatment for PD psychosis. Saracatinib has shown to reduce the intensity of the psychedelic effect induced by psilocybin (a naturally occurring psychedelic found in psilocybe mushrooms) and attenuate social cognition and brain changes in healthy volunteers. The aim of this study is to test the effects of 14 days dosing of saracatinib or placebo on 30 volunteers with PD psychosis. We aim to to use neuroimaging combined with psychopharmacology to provide evidence that a putative new treatment approach can modulate abnormal visual cortex activation in patients with PD psychosis. If positive, this proof of mechanism study would provide a strong platform to pursue symptom modification studies with Saracatinib.

The purpose of this study is to design prospective experiments before and after the test. The purpose is to explore whether short-term interactive video games can improve the motivation, interpersonal interaction, and physical and mental health of patients with mental illness in community rehabilitation homes. Samples of mentally ill patients from community rehabilitation homes (full-day rehabilitation institutions) in the northern region were collected using a structured questionnaire for the recipients, as follows: Collect basic information through a structured questionnaire, which includes basic information, disease status, life style and other related information. Three data collections were performed, namely the baseline period (T0) and the pre-program (T1) two weeks later. Three weeks of intervention activities were provided twice a week, followed by a post-test ( post-program, T2). After a total of six times mentioned above, each 60 minutes of interactive video game intervention, the patient completed the activity feedback form, reflecting the feelings and feedback of participating in the activity.

This study aims to develop a program of systematic physical exercise maintained for at least 12 weeks to normalize biomarkers of metabolic syndrome; improve neurocognition and social functioning; increase empowerment, self-esteem and self-efficacy and reduce self-stigma in individuals with severe mental disorder with metabolic syndrome.

The current study aims to develop and evaluate a practical, short-term support and education program for relatives of individuals with schizophrenia. This program has been developed to maximize efficiency and effectiveness in the following ways: The intervention specifically targets those factors empirically demonstrated to improve family functioning and well being. Specifically, this pilot intervention aims to: a) increase relatives' knowledge about schizophrenia spectrum disorders; b) help families attribute distressing behaviors of their ill relatives more accurately, by helping them to distinguish behaviors that are directly related to the illness from personality characteristics; c) improve attitudes towards the patient and reduce stress in interactions with the patient; d) encourage problem-focused coping strategies; e) reduce burden; f) provide opportunities for relatives to expand their social support network; g) help families learn about and utilize community resources. The program involves both individual and multifamily group components, in order to reap the benefits of both formats. Specifically, multifamily psychoeducation groups (involving individuals from several different families) tend to be more economical and allow participants to learn from each other, increase their social support networks, and reduce feelings of stigma. In contrast, individualized programs can target the specific needs of participants.

The study evaluates the gene-environment interaction of the COMT-genotype on the effects of the phytocannabinoids delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol or a combination of both on induction of psychotic symptoms, endocannabinoid levels in human body fluids, neuronal processing, and neural oscillations. In addition the effects of the phytocannabinoids on lipid levels in serum and cerebrospinal fluid, cognition, neuronal processing assessed by fMRI as well as D2-receptor availability assessed by [18F] desmethoxyfallypride.

A new treatment for indigenous people with mental illness in remote communities has been developed. The study hypothesis is that this new treatment will result in better outcomes for clients and carers than the outcomes of clients and carers who do not receive the treatment. The treatment is a combination of a talking treatment and sharing of stories about mental health. The treatment will be delivered to the client with their chosen carer and with the local Aboriginal Mental Health Worker or Health Worker. The treatment will be given by the research team - a psychiatrist and an indigenous research officer. The trial will compare two groups of clients - a control group which is receiving 'treatment as usual', and the group which receives the new treatment. Measures of social functioning and symptoms of mental illness will be administered at base line and every six months for two years.