Active clinical trials for "Depressive Disorder"

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a severe and common psychiatric disorder. Although MDD primarily involves mood disturbances, patients also usually present alterations in cognitive function (attention, memory, executive functioning and psychomotor speed). Even though antidepressants are suggested in the literature to potentially improve cognitive dysfunction in patients with MDD to some degree, there is a lack of adequate and well-controlled studies to investigate this effect. This study will evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of a new antidepressant Vortioxetine versus placebo on cognitive dysfunction in adult patients with MDD.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate minocycline as a potential treatment for bipolar depression when added to a mood-stabilizing medication. Minocycline is an antibiotic that is approved for the treatment of infections and acne. Participation in this research study is expected to last 8 weeks, and includes five outpatient visits.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent mental illnesses in North America, in which 30% - 40% fail to respond to conventional treatment. Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) has been shown to be an effective therapeutic tool for the treatment of MDD. This form of treatment involves a series of magnetic pulses directed to the brain for about 30 minutes. Importantly, such treatment is very safe and well tolerated. However, to date, most treatment studies show modest efficacy due to limitations, including: 1) treatments that are delivered to only one side of the brain; 2) treatment that does not directly target a specific brain region associated with depression; 3) treatments that are of short duration; 4) treatments that are of insufficient intensity; and 5) insufficient understanding of the brain mechanisms responsible for therapeutic effect. This study is designed to directly address all of these limitations, as well as explore brain mechanisms (e.g. cortical excitability) through which treatment is optimized.

When patients present with both a chronic disease and depression, family physicians agree that treatment and follow-up is more complicated and that patients' health suffers as a result. Programs to help depressed patients learn skills to help manage their mood have been developed (depression self-care), using workbooks and audio-visual materials. The programs show promise, but little is known about how these self-care programs may work for patients with depression and chronic disease. Researchers are proposing a study to evaluate a depression self-care programme for patients age 40 and over who have at least mild depressive symptoms as well as a chronic physical illness and who are treated primarily by a family physician. All study participants (250 patients selected from different family medicine clinics in Montreal) will receive a package of depression self-care materials which include the Antidepressant Skills Workbook, developed in Canada, available in French and English, and used in several provinces in depression self-management programs; a video on depression; a mood monitoring tool; an information booklet to give to family members; and information on additional resources (books, internet materials, and local community groups). The participants will be assigned to one of two groups randomly (like a coin toss): one group will receive the materials only, the other group will receive the materials as well as regular telephone support for up to 6 months by a trained coach who will answer any questions the participant may have on the materials they are working with. All participants who agree to be in the study will be interviewed three times: once at the beginning of the study, then at 3 months and finally at 6 months. Patients' depression scores will be evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the self-care programme with and without the support of the coach. Researchers will also look at the effect that self-care may have on use and costs of health services, and whether engaging in self-care has an impact on health behaviours (like exercise, taking medications correctly and smoking and alcohol consumption). All study data will be anonymous; any information that could potentially allow identification of a participant will be removed.

The study will investigate the effectiveness of Cognitive Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in a randomized controlled trial among patients with Major Depressive Disorder in routine clinical practice. Furthermore, the study will investigate whether each specific treatment approach is mediated by its proposed theoretical mechanism.

The investigators plan to enroll 184 women who are planning to breastfeed and use DMPA after delivery to find out whether the timing of postpartum administration of DMPA (prior to hospital discharge or 4-6 weeks after delivery) affects the duration or exclusivity of breastfeeding among women who plan to breastfeed their infants.

Evidence shows that depression was found to be associated with physical inactivity and on the other hand, high prevalence of depression was also found in patients with chronic pain. Structured physical rehabilitation program with exercises as main component and pain management provided by physiotherapy has been proved by overseas studies to be effective in reducing the psychological symptoms of depression through increasing the physical fitness and relieving the pain. Literatures also reported a strong sociocultural influence on the prevalence of depression and the manifestations of their clinical signs and symptoms in patients suffered from mental health problems between Chinese and Western societies. The benefits of physical rehabilitation program in the management of depression cannot be assumed in the Chinese population. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a structured "Physical Rehabilitation Program" for Chinese patients diagnosed with depressive disorder (mild to severe severity) on the physical fitness and negative psychological symptoms of the recruited patients. The Hypothesis are: The Physical Rehabilitation Program is effective in improving the physical fitness in Chinese patients with depressive disorders. The Physical Rehabilitation Program is effective in alleviating the negative psychological symptoms in Chinese patients with depressive disorders.

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of a brief psychological intervention focused on the personal dilemmas identified for each depressive patient. For that, this intervention is combined to group cognitive therapy (an already proven efficacious format) and compared to cognitive individual therapy.

This study seeks to investigate whether tranylcypromine (Parnate®) might be an effective treatment of bipolar depression. New treatments are needed, as there is little evidence that standard antidepressants are effective in treating this condition, and the two antipsychotic medications that have indications for bipolar depression can cause substantial side effects. This study will focus specifically on currently depressed outpatients having a bipolar history for whom at least one standard antidepressant medication was ineffective. Patients will be treated openly with tranylcypromine for 8-10 months, depending on treatment response.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of scheduled maintenance Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) treatment compared to on-demand TMS treatment for symptomatic worsening in patients who have shown a clinical response to acute TMS treatment.