View clinical trials related to Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to obtain data investigating the safety and efficacy of eszopiclone for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related sleep disturbance and the impact of improved sleep with eszopiclone treatment on neuroendocrine correlates of PTSD. The investigators hypothesize that eszopiclone will be significantly more effective than placebo and well tolerated for PTSD-related sleep disturbance, improvement in sleep will be associated with improvement in overall PTSD symptoms, and patients with PTSD-related sleep disturbances will have abnormal levels of stress hormones.
The primary study objective is to conduct a prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial that compares the effectiveness of two approaches for delivering smoking cessation treatment for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). An approach where smoking cessation treatment is integrated into mental health care for PTSD and delivered by mental health providers (experimental condition) will be compared to specialized smoking cessation clinic referral (VA's usual standard of care). Secondary study objectives are to (a) compare the cost outcomes and cost-effectiveness of IC versus USC, (b) identify treatment process variables that explain (mediate) observed differences in smoking abstinence rates for the two study conditions, and (c) determine whether cessation from smoking is associated with worsening of symptoms of PTSD and/or depression.
The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two cognitive behavioral group psychotherapy interventions in controlling the subjective sleep disturbance in veterans with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.
The purposes of this study are: - To study the efficacy of divalproex in the treatment of PTSD; - To study the plasma GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid) levels before and after treatment with divalproex in PTSD.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether prazosin will reduce the incidence of nightmares, sleep disturbance, and overall symptoms in combat trauma-exposed individuals with PTSD.
The purpose of this study is to answer the following questions: (1) Does substituting brief, scheduled, clinician-initiated telephone calls (telephone care) for routine psychiatric medication management visits reduce overall healthcare utilization? (2) Is substituting brief, scheduled, clinician-initiated telephone calls (telephone care) for routine psychiatric medication management visits as effective as routine care?
During a psychiatric crisis, persons with severe mental illness (SMI) confront complex challenges concerning treatment choices and are often ill equipped or unable to make mental health care decisions. Psychiatric Advance Directives (PADs) are legal documents that allow competent persons to declare their treatment preferences in advance of a mental health crisis, when they may lose capacity to make reliable health care decisions. The use of PADs is consistent with recommendations of the President�s New Freedom Commission on Mental Illness and the Patient Self-Determination Act; 25 states have now adopted PAD legislation. VA does not have a specific policy for PADs or mechanisms to notify veterans of their right to prepare PADs. The downstream effects of PADs on patient care, crisis management, service use, and clinical outcomes are unknown.
This study will examine the role of substance P, a chemical messenger in the brain, in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a chronic anxiety disorder. PTSD can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal, such as a violent personal assault, natural or human-caused disaster, accident, or military combat. Substance P is a peptide that may be important in the response to certain psychiatric and neurological diseases and conditions, including anxiety. Healthy normal volunteers and people with PTSD who are between 18 and 65 years of age may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a physical examination, blood and urine tests, pregnancy test for women who can become pregnant, and a neuropsychological evaluation. Participants undergo positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning. An optional lumbar puncture (spinal tap) is also requested. PET Scanning PET uses small amounts of a radioactive chemical called a tracer that "labels" active areas of the brain. The tracer used in this study is [18F]SPA-RQ. For the procedure, the subject lies still on the scanner bed. A special mask is fitted to the head to help keep the subject's head still during the scan so the images will be clear. A 20-minute "transmission" scan is done before the radioactive tracer is injected to provide measures of the brain that will help in the precise calculation of information from subsequent scans. After the tracer is injected through a needle in the arm, pictures are taken continuously for about 2 hours. Then, 20- to 40-minute images are taken every hour until about 5 hours after the injection. MRI Scanning An MRI scan is scheduled at some time within 1 year of the PET scan. MRI uses a magnetic field and radio waves to obtain images of body tissues and organs. The subject lies still on a table inside the tunnel-like MRI scanner. Earplugs are worn to muffle loud noises that occur during the scanning. The maximum duration of the scan is 60 minutes. Lumbar Puncture Lumbar puncture is used to examine the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that surrounds both the brain and the spinal cord. For this procedure, a local anesthetic is given to numb the skin in the lower back area. A small needle is then inserted into the space between the bones in the lower back where the CSF circulates below the spinal cord. A small amount of fluid is collected through the needle. Blood Draw A blood sample is collected to generate cell lines that can be used to extract DNA (genetic material) for gene studies and that can be frozen for future use.
This is a study investigating immune function and relationships to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to controls without PTSD. The study involves 99 adult veterans and civilian subjects over a 3 year period. The study involves measuring immune and neuroendocrine parameters from blood samples obtained before and after a dexamethasone suppression test. The aim of the study is to determine whether immune alterations exist in PTSD and whether the immune-HPA axis interactions in this disorder are different from non-PTSD subjects with the future aim of studying whether immune dysregulation in PTSD may be linked to the increased risk for medical and psychiatric comorbidity in this population.
This research project is a follow-up to the prior VA-funded study that found that chronic fatigue reported by many Gulf War veterans may be a symptom of dysfunctional cardiovascular stress response regulation. Specifically, ill veterans had diminished autonomic responses during demanding psychosocial tasks involving high level cognitive processing and emotional stress. There was a close relationship between clinical status of ill veterans and their inability to mount an appropriate physiological response under stress. The main objective of the present investigation is to determine the specific mechanism through which this abnormality may contribute to Gulf War-related chronic fatigue. We also observed that Gulf veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had the most dampened autonomic activation to stressors involving higher brain activities. The second major focus of this study is to explore the role of a psychiatric disorder, specifically PTSD, as a factor in abnormalities in stress response regulation. This aspect of the study may also provide pertinent information as to the role of stress of military deployment as a contributing factor in post-Gulf War illnesses.