View clinical trials related to Psychotic Disorders.
Filter by:The goal of our research is to check the levels of D-Serine, Glycine, and other Glutamatergic amino acids, in patients with First Psychotic Episode (FPE). These patients are in the early stage of the disease, treated with neuroleptics for short periods of time, and are usually hospitalized for the first time. The hypothesis of the research is that we will find low levels of Glycine and D-Serine in these patients. Following an Anti-psychotic treatment we will expect these levels to return to the norm, and that this correction will be accompanied by a reduction of positive and negative symptoms. In addition, we will check the D-Serine and Glycine levels in the plasma of first degree relatives of the patients and a group of healthy subjects. The results of this study might support the hypothesis that the Glutamatergic system in involved in the pathology of Schizophrenia from it's early stages. In addition, we will check the levels of Oxytocin and Estrogen in the plasma of patients in FPE. Our hypothesis is that we will find low levels of Estrogen and High levels of Oxytocin in this group of patients. The results of the study might support the hypothesis that Estrogen and Oxytocin are involved in the pathology of Schizophrenia from it's early stages.
The primary objective is to determine if ziprasidone is superior to standard therapies in the emergency department treatment of the acutely agitated patient. The primary outcome will be the length of time taken until the patient is ready to be evaluated by the psychiatric service, or until a disposition is made.
Intention of the study is to examine, if the symptomatology of dual diagnosis patients is less severe after a special indication training for reduction of cannabis consumption in comparison to unspecified trainings. Point of interest is psychopathology and consumerism.
Serious mental illness (SMI) is the second most costly disorder treated in the VHA, yet clinical outcomes for these patients in public sector settings are often poor due to a combination of low quality care and severe cognitive and functional impairments evidenced by this group. While these problems are multifaceted, studies outside the VHA have shown that using "consumer providers" (CPs) can improve and augment public care. Similar to recovering addiction counselors, CPs are individuals with SMI who use their lived experiences to provide services to others with SMI. CPs can reach out to patients that are difficult to engage, assist patients with tasks of daily living, offer a variety of rehabilitation (vocational, social, residential) services, be role models and offer hope for recovery, and facilitate support groups. Randomized controlled and quasi-experimental trials, all done outside the VHA, have shown that CPs can provide services that yield at least equivalent patient outcomes with particular benefits noted on intensive case management teams. Based on these successes both the President's New Freedom Commission and the Veteran Administration's Mental Health Strategic Plan call for broader dissemination of CPs as way to make mental health services more recovery-oriented, a recent national priority. Because of these recent calls, employing mentally ill veterans has just begun, although no effort has been made to evaluate their impact inside the VA mental health system. Yet its success outside the VHA and the recent emphasis on recovery-oriented care suggests the need to test this model in the VHA.
The purpose of this project is to obtain DNA, brain imaging data, other biological samples (e.g., urine, serum), and a comprehensive clinical assessment on patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, major depression, and normal volunteer controls. Understanding the physical and genetic factors related to these disorders will help us make progress in fitting treatments to an individual's needs. Participants will take part in a detailed clinical assessment, two blood draws, and an MRI scan over two visits. Participants will also be asked to provide urine and saliva samples.
This study will test whether transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) can be used safely in children with schizophrenia and if it can improve memory and attention span or auditory hallucinations in these children, at least temporarily. TDCS has temporarily improved memory and attention span in healthy adults and a similar method called TMS has relieved auditory hallucinations in adults with schizophrenia. For the TDCS procedure, the child sits in a chair and two soft sponge electrodes are placed on the child s forehead and held in place with a soft wrapping. One sponge electrode is placed on an arm. The electrodes are attached to a stimulator with a wire. Children with schizophrenia who meet the following criteria may be eligible for this study: - Are 10 yrs or older age. - Are participating in NIH protocol 03-M-0035. - Are on a stable medication regimen for at least 6 months. - Have problems with memory and attention span or have auditory hallucinations. Participants are randomly assigned to receive either real or sham TDCS on an inpatient or outpatient basis in 20-minute sessions daily, except weekends, for 10 days. For real TDCS, patients receive stimulation to the front of the brain. For sham stimulation, the children have electrodes placed on the forehead, but no actual stimulation is delivered. In addition to TDCS, patients have the following procedures: - Checks of blood pressure, pulse and breathing rate before, during and right after each stimulation and again 8 hours later. - Electrocardiogram (EKG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) before starting stimulation and after completing the 10 days of TDCS. - Interviews and examinations to check for side effects of TDCS. - Pen-and-paper or computer tests of learning, attention and memory. - At the end of the 10 sessions, children who were in the sham TDCS group are offered the same number of sessions of active TDCS. - Follow-up telephone call 1 month after the end of stimulation to see how the child is doing. - 1- to 2-day outpatient visit 6 months after the stimulation. This visit includes interviews with the parent and the child, rating of the child s psychiatric symptoms, and pen-and-paper or computer tests of thinking, attention and memory.
The investigators intend to explore the hypothesis that symptoms of schizophrenia may be reduced by the antimalarial compound artemisinin when used in addition to standard antipsychotic medications.
Atypical antipsychotics have been found not only to be beneficial in the treatment of psychotic disorders, but even for depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Remarkably, preliminary data suggest that the atypical antipsychotic quetiapine has antidepressive properties. Until now, there is limited knowledge concerning the efficacy of quetiapine in major depressive illness and especially in psychotic depression. In our own clinical practice, several patients with psychotic depression were successfully treated with quetiapine as add-on therapy or as monotherapy. On the background of that, the convincing effects of quetiapine in bipolar depression, single-case reports and pilot studies concerning its effectiveness in depressive mood states in psychotic disorders as well as our clinical experiences, it is to assume that a treatment with quetiapine over a 6 weeks period show similar effects in major depressive episode with psychotic features, i.e. psychotic depression. In this pilot study we plan to investigate 20 patients with psychotic features of depression under treatment with quetiapine.
Psychiatric disorders or drug addiction are often regarded as contraindications against the use of Interferon-alpha in patients with chronic hepatitis C. The investigators aim is/was to get prospective data about adherence, efficacy and mental side effects of IFN-alpha treatment in different psychiatric risk groups compared to controls. In a prospective trial, 81 patients with chronic hepatitis C (positive HCV-RNA and elevated ALT) and psychiatric disorders (n=16), methadone substitution (n=21), former drug addiction (n=21) or controls without psychiatric history or addiction (n=23) should be/were treated with a combination of IFN-alpha-2a 3 x 3 Mio U/week and ribavirin (1000-1200 mg/day).
Observational, short-term prospective, multicenter study to assess psychometric properties of the Spanish version of SWN-K scale in patients with schizophrenia.