Active clinical trials for "Depressive Disorder"

Depression is an important mental health concern in college students. This study will recruit students who test positive for moderate to severe depression on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Subjects will be randomly assigned to either a treatment or a control condition. Those in the treatment group will receive four 90 minute group classes using EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) to address traumatic memories and other self-identified causes of depression. It will compare them to a no treatment control group.

The purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to examine the impact of a patient decision aid on the quality of decisions about managing symptoms of depression. In particular, we will examine whether the decision aid increases knowledge about depression/managing depression symptoms and concordance between goals and treatment choices.

This is a pilot project to study if repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) will benefit patients with bipolar depression safely. Based on published studies, this study hypothesizes that rTMS on the left dorsal prefrontal lobe will improve symptoms in some patients who have failed at least two medications.

Postpartum anemia (PPA) and Postpartum depression (PPD) are common afflictions affecting women after childbirth. Both disorders have a significant impact on women's health and functional status. Despite common symptoms and characteristics, a link between these entities has not been adequately studied. The objective of this study is to determine whether postpartum anemia is an independent risk factor for the development of postpartum depression. This prospective cohort study will include all women delivered by elective term cesarean delivery. Hemoglobin and iron levels will be measured, standardized questionnaires for assessment of PPD, functional status and lactation will be administered before discharge and at 3 & 6 weeks post partum. Hemoglobin levels at each time point will be analyzed for correlation with depressive symptoms, functional status and lactation success.

Disturbances in the amino acid neurotransmitter (AANt), gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) function are hypothesized to contribute to the neurobiology of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and insomnia. The principal objective of this project is to use magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to provide the first in vivo characterization of cortical GABA levels in individuals with primary insomnia, and to determine whether subjects with MDD, achieving a partial response with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment but still experiencing significant residual symptoms including insomnia, have altered levels of this neurotransmitter. The investigators are also exploring the correlation between cortical AANt levels and abnormalities in sleep parameters in primary insomnia and as a residual symptom of major depression.

Patients will be consented and screened within 2 to 6 months of the index ACS. Patients who have elevated depression (BDI>=15 or BDI>=10 assessed twice over two week period) and who continue to meet all of the trial's eligibility criteria will be consented. Through informed consent, both arms of the trial will be described with equipoise as to these approaches to postACS depression care. Patients who consent to randomization will be enrolled in the treatment trial. The intervention phase will be 6 months, and hence the final outcome assessments will be performed approximately 9 months after the index ACS. Interim measures of depression will be obtained at 2 and 4 months post-enrollment. Major adverse cardiac events and all-cause mortality will also be ascertained at 6 months post-enrollment. Quality assurance by an independent medical event adjudication committee using prospective guidelines will be employed.

The study is designed to answer the following research questions: Evaluate the acceptability of mental health screening and of the instruments used in a sample of community living Chinese seniors; Determine rates of mental health service utilization in individuals identified at screening as having psychological disturbance; Determine if identifying mental illness and informing participants of screening results and with treatment alternatives alters help-seeking pathways. The study hypotheses are: This community sample of Chinese seniors will show a higher prevalence of psychological disturbance than their counterparts in the general population; Emotional well-being will be positively correlated with individuals' physical health and social support network.

The Institute of Medicine has called for studies of "indicated" preventive interventions to reduce the incidence of mental illness in persons already symptomatic but not yet presenting with fully developed clinical syndromes. The investigators' Advanced Center for Interventions and Services Research in Late Life Mood Disorders has embraced the development and testing of preventive interventions as one of its key objectives. The investigators propose to test the following hypotheses related to primary prevention of major depressive episodes in old age, focusing on elderly patients who have symptoms of emotional distress but who are not yet presenting with the full syndrome of a major depressive episode. Hypothesis 1: Problem solving therapy (PST) will be superior to an attention-only control (dietary education) in lowering the two-year incidence of episodes of syndromal major depression in already symptomatic elderly primary care patients. Hypothesis 2: PST will also prevent higher levels of depressive symptoms and associated disabilities, over a two-year period of follow-up.

The purpose of this study is to develop a blood test for major depression and measure the effects of ziprasidone monotherapy on these markers. Specific Aim: Using a multiplex biomarker assay we will measure levels of 16 biomarkers in patients with MDD enrolled in this ancillary study (adjunct to study NCT00555997) and compare these results to those of healthy controls" (defined as research subjects who have not met criteria for any lifetime Axis-I disorder (DSM-IV)) from an existing dataset at PHB.

This study will develop a new methodology to evaluate any treatment-emergent suicidal ideation that might occur when an antidepressant treatment has been started and/or during times when doses are increased in patients with major depressive disorder.