Active clinical trials for "Depressive Disorder"

This study involves pilot testing of a modified version of a proven treatment for mental illness. The treatment, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is used to treat more than 100,000 Americans yearly. ECT is the most effective treatment for major depression, a disorder that affects approximately 5 to 8 percent of the adult US population yearly. It is also an effective treatment for mania and mixed mood states associated with bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder. The aim of ECT is to induce a seizure, which is thought to be responsible for both its therapeutic and its adverse cognitive effects. The proposed modification consists of reducing the ECT electrical stimulus dose below the amount necessary to induce seizures so that adverse cognitive effects, such as confusion and memory problems, are minimized. The investigators intend to determine whether ECT-related cognitive impairment can be reduced without diminishing the therapeutic effect of ECT. In addition to distressing patients, ECT-related cognitive impairment has significant public health consequences. These include increased morbidity and mortality among severely ill individuals who refuse ECT due to concern over its adverse cognitive effects as well as increased falls among the elderly receiving ECT. Elderly patients are far more likely to receive ECT and are also more vulnerable to ECT-related cognitive impairment. They often require hospitalization for ECT and a longer hospital stay with greater spacing of treatments to minimize adverse cognitive effects. The hypothesis driving this research is that electrical brain stimulation applied in the same manner as standard ECT, but at a lower dose, can have therapeutic effects and fewer adverse cognitive effects without inducing seizures. This hypothesis is based on the following: 1) the investigators clinical experience of patients who have improved with ECT despite having only one or no seizure, 2) animal studies showing that electrical brain stimulation can induce antidepressant like effects in animals without inducing seizures, 3) reports from the 1950s that "subconvulsive" and "nonconvulsive" electrotherapy was effective for some patients, and 4) the recent approval by the US Food and Drug Administration of the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation --a technique that uses a magnet to induce an electrical current in the brain without inducing seizures--for treatment of medication resistant major depression. The primary aim of the research is to conduct a proof of concept, open trial investigating the therapeutic efficacy and safety of nonconvulsive electrotherapy (NET). The investigators plan to enroll 16 subjects, which is the minimum number of subjects needed to show that the therapeutic effect of NET is better than would be expected of placebo. If the investigators show that the therapeutic effect of NET exceeds that expected of placebo and does not induce significant cognitive impairment, then the investigators will go on to propose a blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial that more definitively tests the investigators' hypothesis. The investigators would use the information gathered from the pilot trial to estimate the number of subjects needed to definitively test the efficacy and safety of NET. The secondary aim of the study is to find out whether NET affects blood levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF is a substance that is important to the nervous system and may be related to how treatments like ECT or possibly NET improve symptoms. The investigators would draw a blood sample before and after NET treatment to assess this.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether Pioglitazone as an adjunct to Citalopram is effective in treatment of moderate to severe depression

The study aims to use a combined clinical and translational approach to identify an efficient pharmacotherapy for the acute management of suicidality and the epigenetic regulation associated with the treatment.The primary objective is a clinical trial to compare the efficacy of paliperidone versus lithium and placebo as adjunctive therapy to the standard of care antidepressants in the acute management of suicidality in depressed subjects. Specific Aims 1 and 2 are described in detail below. Analysis for Specific Aim 2 is still underway.

This proposed study is designed to compare the efficacy of interpersonal and social rhythm therapy (IPSRT) alone to IPSRT plus medication as an acute treatment for bipolar II depression. The investigators propose to conduct a randomized, controlled, trial comparing the effects of IPSRT plus pill placebo to IPSRT plus quetiapine on depressive symptoms in individuals suffering from Bipolar II depression. The investigators will also examine the impact of treatment on psychosocial function.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of Levomilnacipran ER fixed doses versus placebo in the treatment of outpatients with major depressive disorder.

This two-center, between-subject, randomized, double-masked study (n=20) will provide the first evidence for the antidepressant efficacy of Magnetic Seizure Therapy (MST) and contrast the therapeutic properties and side effects of two forms of MST in patients in a major depressive episode (MDE).

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of treatment with Advair Diskus on depression using the Cornell depression scale in COPD patients in the nursing home.

Major depressive disorder is a complex disease and most currently available antidepressants aiming at monoamine neurotransmission exhibit limited efficacy and cognitive effects. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), one subtype of glutamate receptors, plays an important role in learning and memory. N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) enhancing agents, such as sarcosine (N-methylglycine), have been used as adjunctive therapy of schizophrenia. Sarcosine improved not only psychotic but also depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. To confirm its antidepressant effect, the purpose of this study is to compare citalopram and sarcosine in efficacy for major depressive patients.

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of the Cognitive Behavioural Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) with the non-specific System of Supportive Psychotherapy (SYSP)in early onset chronically depressives.

This study will evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of RO4917523, in comparison to placebo, in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Following a washout period from existing anti-depressant medication, cohorts of patients will be randomized to receive daily oral RO4917523 at up to five different doses (according to the safety and tolerability observed at the lower doses during the study), or placebo. The anticipated time on study treatment is 10 days (in an inpatient unit), and the target sample size is <100 individuals.