View clinical trials related to Mood Disorders.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is determine whether a specialised mood disorder service, which offers tailored psychological and pharmacological treatment, is more effective in the treatment of chronic unipolar depressive disorder then treatment as usual.
The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of bright light therapy in SAD. This is a placebo-controlled, double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT).
This study will examine: 1) The impact of psycho education group therapy sessions relating to beliefs/myths associated with bipolar affective disorder (BAD) on the emotional wellbeing, clinical course and cognition of individuals diagnosed with BAD 2) Will examine the existence of those same beliefs among the various caregivers - psychiatrists, general practitioners, social workers, and psychiatric nurses. The investigators hypothesize that psychoeducation group therapy will be effective in refuting the myths and will lead to better treatment adherence, longer remissions, fewer hospitalizations, improved self esteem, increased optimism, and better control over the disease process. The investigators also believe that they will identify some beliefs/myths or preconceived notions that are common to both caregivers and individuals with BAD.
This study is intended to help develop new MRI imaging techniques for studying mood and anxiety disorders. Researchers believe that depression and anxiety disorders may cause structural and functional changes in the brain. This study will optimize the way MRI scans are collected to look at brain structure and examine how the brain behaves while subjects perform particular tasks. Healthy normal subjects between 18 and 50 years of age who have never had a major psychiatric disorder and who have no first-degree relatives with mood disorders may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened by phone with questions about their psychiatric and medical history, current emotional state and sleep pattern, and family history of psychiatric disorders. Candidates who pass the preliminary screening then undergo additional screening interviews and laboratory tests. Participants undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychological testing, as follows: "<TAB>MRI scans: Subjects are asked to participate in an MRI study on one of several scanners to measure blood flow in the brain, concentrations of certain chemicals in the brain, or magnetic properties of the brain. MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to obtain pictures of the brain. The subject lies still on a narrow bed with a metal coil close to the head. For this study, subjects may be asked to wear a special coil on the neck to help measure blood flow. They may be asked to watch a screen presenting images or to do a task in which they respond to pictures or sounds and may be asked to return for additional scans. "<TAB>Neuropsychological testing: Subjects may undergo tests of cognitive performance. Often, people with mood disorders have subtle changes in performance on these tests that allow researchers to pinpoint where brain abnormalities occur. Before the tests can be used in patients, they must be validated by using healthy subjects. These tests are presented either orally, in written form, or on a computer.
The aim of this project is to examine the serotonergic transmitter system using functional imaging of the brain (positron emission tomography [PET]) to gain knowledge about early pathophysiological changes in Alzheimer's dementia and mood disorders.
Recurrent fall/winter major depression (known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)) is a prevalent and disruptive disorder whose pathophysiological basis is unknown, but several hypotheses attribute a causal role to the circadian timing system. Bright white light exposure via the retina has been shown to reverse the symptoms of SAD. Recent physiological studies demonstrated the existence of retinal ganglion cells capable of transducing light input to the retinohypothalamic tract, the primary circadian afferent in humans. This retinohypothalamic system appears to be maximally sensitive to light in the 446-477nm (violet/blue) range. Using light-emitting diode (LED) technology, light of narrow bandwidths now can be delivered from a safe, relatively inexpensive device. We propose to contrast in SAD patients the efficacy and tolerability of 468 nm LED light from a portable 11cm x 6cm commercially-available device (GoLITEÔ) to a broader 400-700 nm wavelength LED-generated light housed in an identical device. The broad wavelength (white) light from our LED device is similar to that from cool-white fluorescent 10,000 lux devices currently the standard for treatment of SAD (see e.g., Lam & Levitt, 1999). Twenty-four depressed SAD outpatients will be randomized to a 3-week trial of light therapy using either the narrow 468 nm LED source or the broader 400-700 nm LED source, each housed in a GoLITEÔ device. Subjects will be given devices and written instruction for administering daily treatments at home, 45min every (q) a.m. The devices will be described to subjects in terms of wavelength but not specifically described as "blue" or "white." Weekly depression ratings and assessments of adverse effects will be obtained by a trained rater blind to the treatment condition. Depressive symptoms will be rated weekly by the same trained clinician. The following hypotheses will be evaluated: - H1-- Depressed SAD patients will demonstrate greater antidepressant therapeutic benefit from the narrow-wavelength (blue) source than from the broad-wavelength (white) source. - H2-- Depressed SAD patients will manifest fewer adverse effects during treatment with the narrow-wavelength (blue) source than with the broad-wavelength (white) source.
This study will examine how depression, anxiety, and migraine run in families. It will help in defining the risk factors for physical, mental, and health problems-as well as define ways that those problems may be prevented and treated. A broad range of ages among family members will be included to evaluate the patterns of how these disorders are expressed throughout people's lives. Children of all ages will be included, and those ages 8 to 17 will be interviewed directly. Assessments will be collected through criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV as well as the spectrum, or range, of mood disorders and co-existing conditions. A member of the study team will visit the participants at home or will do an interview by telephone. Participation will take approximately 3 to 4 hours. Children will complete questionnaires given by the research team as well as questionnaires that they will do by themselves. The questions will pertain to the children's health, including physical and mental health and medical history, social relationships, problems, skills, and ways of dealing with important or stressful issues in their lives. These questionnaires will take up to 1 hour to complete. Health history gathered from adult participants will pertain to height, weight, exercise, and general function. Women will be asked about the use of oral contraceptives, estrogen, and progesterone. In addition, there will be questionnaires on personality and temperamental traits, that is, behavior and impulsiveness. Questions will also involve social intuition, family and other environmental factors, general functioning, and basic demographics such as ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, marital status, education level, and employment history. Families enrolled in this phase of the research will be invited to participate in the next phase. There would be follow-up to evaluate the development of mood disorders, subtypes, and syndromes across the lifespan.
This study seeks to learn more about the symptoms of severe mood dysregulation in children and adolescents ages 7-17. Children and adolescents with severe mood dysregulation (SMD) display chronic anger, sadness, or irritability, as well as hyperarousal (such as insomnia, distractibility, hyperactivity) and extreme responses to frustration (such as frequent, severe temper tantrums). Researchers will describe the moods and behaviors of children with these symptoms and use specialized testing and brain imaging to learn about the brain changes associated with this disorder.
The purpose of this protocol is to allow for the careful screening of patients and healthy volunteers for participation in research protocols in the Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Lab (ETPB) at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and for the collection of natural history data. In addition the protocol will allow clinicians to gain more experience in the use of a variety of polysomnographic and high-density EEG recordings. Subjects in this protocol will undergo an evaluation which may include: a psychiatric interview; a diagnostic interview; rating scales; a medical history; a physical exam; brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); electroencephalography (EEG); electrocardiography (EKG), magnetoencephalography (MEG); blood, saliva and urine laboratory evaluation; and a request for medical records. Subjects may also be asked to complete questionnaires about attitudes towards research and motivation for research participation. The data collected may also be linked with data from other mood and anxiety disorder protocols (e.g., brain imaging, DNA, psychophysiology tests, treatment studies, etc) for the purposes of better understanding the diagnosis, pathophysiology, and treatment response of patients with mood disorders. Parents of minors will be interviewed. Upon conclusion of the screening process, subjects will either be offered participation in a research protocol and will sign the appropriate informed consent, or will be considered not appropriate for participation in research and will be referred back into the community. The current protocol thus serves as an entry point for individuals with mood or anxiety disorders or healthy volunteers to enter NIMH IRB approved ETPB protocols.
Determine whether postpartum depression is triggered by the abrupt withdrawal of estrogen and progesterone. The appearance of mood and behavioral symptoms during pregnancy and the postpartum period has been extensively reported. While there has been much speculation about possible biologically based etiologies for postpartum disorders (PPD), none has ever been confirmed. Preliminary results from two related studies (protocols 90-M-0088, 92-M-0174) provide evidence that women with menstrual cycle related mood disorder, but not controls, experience mood disturbances during exogenous replacement of physiologic levels of gonadal steroids. The present protocol is designed to create a "scaled-down" hormonal milieu of pregnancy and the puerperium in order to determine whether women who have had a previous episode of postpartum major effective episode will experience differential mood and behavioral effects compared with controls and to determine whether it is the abrupt withdrawal of gonadal steroids or the prolonged exposure to gonadal steroids that is associated with mood symptoms. Supraphysiologic plasma levels of gonadal steroids will be established, maintained, and then rapidly reduced, simulating the hormonal events that occur during pregnancy and parturition. This will be accomplished by administering estradiol and progesterone to women who are pretreated with a gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist (Lupron). After eight weeks, administration of gonadal steroids will be stopped in one group of patients and controls, and a sudden decline in the plasma hormone levels will be precipitated. Another group will be maintained on supraphysiologic levels of estrogen and progesterone for an additional month. Outcome measures will include mood, behavioral and hormonal parameters (a separate protocol done in collaboration with NICHD).