Active clinical trials for "Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic"

The summary of this research study is to test the effectiveness of a rapid "rescue" acupuncture technique as a non-pharmacologic alternative treatment for the reduction of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in affected individuals as a means to improve warfighter health and enable a more rapid return to duty, especially in austere environments. Patients will receive acupuncture as a research-related course of treatment for PTSD. The PCL-5 questionnaire will be used to assess the presence and severity of PTSD symptoms. A PCL-5 questionnaire will be administered at the beginning of the first treatment of "rescue" acupuncture and after the last treatment. Following the acupuncture treatment, a PCL-5 questionnaire will be initiated at the beginning of the first week of treatment and the end of the second week of treatment at the participating Mental Health Clinic (pMHC).

This study will implement a brief Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) intervention for children, the Primary Care Intervention for PTSD (PCIP) delivered through telehealth (computer or smartphone delivery), to 10 youth age 6-11 and their caregivers. Mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) randomized pilot feasibility trial (n=10 to treatment and 10 to waitlist control) to refine the intervention, study procedures, and explore effectiveness. Following RE-AIM guidelines, the investigators will assess: Reach: patient participation in intervention delivery (out of all those asked to participate) and retention rate (out of all those who consented to participate and completed at least two intervention sessions) Adoption: patients and their parents/guardians will complete screening and intervention satisfaction ratings. To understand patient experiences with the intervention and to identify and explain positive or negative treatment mechanisms or effects, the investigators will conduct post-intervention semi-structured interviews with the participating patients, their parents/guardians, and with providers. This treatment ranges from 1-4 sessions which last 50 minutes per session. The first session will cover psychoeducation about PTSD symptoms in children that can be delivered to the parent or both the parent and child. The first session will also teach the parent and child a breathing technique to combat the physiological impact of PTSD in children. The subsequent sessions will be tailored to meet the needs of the child's most distressing PTSD symptom cluster including hyper arousal, negative changes in cognition and mood, avoidance, re-experiencing. Each session contains coping skills that the parent and child can learn together. There is also material for parents to address behavior problems in youth. This treatment will be delivered via telehealth.

Anxiety-, obsessive-compulsive and trauma- and stressor-related disorders reflect a significant public health problem. This study is designed to evaluate the predictive power of a novel biomarker based on a CO2 challenge, thus addressing the central question "can this easy-to-administer assay aid clinicians in deciding whether or not to initiate exposure-based therapy?"

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating and highly prevalent psychiatric disorder that develops in the aftermath of trauma exposure (APA, 2013). PTSD has been strongly associated with altered activation patterns within several large-scale brain networks and, as such, it has been suggested that normalizing pathological brain activation may be an effective treatment approach. The objective of this proposed study is to investigate the ability of PTSD patients to self-regulate aberrant neural circuitry associated with PTSD psychopathology using real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rt-fMRI) neurofeedback. Here, the investigators are building upon previous single-session pilot studies examining the regulation of the amygdala and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in PTSD (Nicholson et al., 2021) (Nicholson et al., 2016) by: (1) Examining the effect of multiple sessions of rt-fMRI neurofeedback and, (2) Comparing PCC- and amygdala-targeted rt-fMRI neurofeedback to sham-control groups with regards to changes in PTSD symptoms and neural connectivity.

The purpose of this study to learn about patients' experience with the Trauma Resilience and Recovery program (TRRP) and/or the enhanced care group.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has devastating health consequences. Evidence-based PTSD interventions address the substantial burden of PTSD on the health of individuals and societies; however, several individuals receiving these interventions drop out and not all individuals experience improvement in PTSD symptoms. Moreover, these current PTSD interventions primarily target trauma memories. Notably, growing evidence suggests that PTSD symptoms are related to difficulties in the encoding and retrieving of positive memories as well. Thus, the proposed study will examine effects of and targets underlying a novel PTSD technique focused on narrating and detailing positive memories - Processing of Positive Memories Technique (PPMT). Methodologically, 70 individuals will be randomly assigned to PPMT vs. Supportive Counseling (SC) for this study. The aims of the proposed study include (1) examining PPMT's effects on PTSD symptom severity and stress systems' dysregulation (i.e., awakening salivary alpha amylase [sAA] and cortisol); (2) examining mechanisms underlying PPMT's effects; and (3) refining PPMT. It is hypothesized that the PPMT arm will report greater decreases in PTSD severity and sAA/cortisol ratios. Further, it is hypothesized that PPMT-related improved affect will mediate the association between study arm (PPMT vs. SC) and changes in PTSD severity. Lastly, feedback will be obtained from study participants on PPMT's feasibility, format, and content to refine PPMT. The proposed study may contribute preliminary evidence on the potential significance of targeting positive memories in PTSD interventions.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation under precise localization for post-traumatic stress disorder

The proposed project will evaluate the efficacy of written exposure therapy (WET) among Veterans engaged in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, who present with co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While SUD treatment programs traditionally do not address PTSD, effective trauma treatments have been used successfully among those with substance use comorbidities. WET is a brief trauma-focused intervention shown to effectively treat PTSD. In a recent acceptability and feasibility pilot study among Veterans with co-occurring SUD and PTSD, results showed a decrease in PTSD symptoms among participants receiving WET. The goal of the present study is to improve outcomes for Veterans who present for SUD treatment with comorbid SUD/PTSD.

This study is looking at therapeutic potential of reducing Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels in regular cannabis smokers using contingency management (CM) intervention in a U.S. veteran population with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

This study will enroll patients meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Following an initial screening visit, clinical assessment, and enrollment, subjects will be randomized into treatment and placebo arms. Both cohorts will undergo a pre-intervention functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of their brain. Treatment subjects will receive unilateral two-level stellate ganglion block via ultrasound-guided injection of anesthetic (bupivacaine) into the cervical sympathetic tissue; placebo subjects will receive an identical volume of saline via the same procedures. At approximately 4 weeks post-procedure, both cohorts will then undergo a post-intervention clinical assessment. Finally, both cohorts will undergo a post-intervention fMRI of their brain.