View clinical trials related to Mood Disorders.
Filter by:As a subtype of major depressive disorder, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or winter depression causes severe reductions in both quality of life and productivity and results in high morbidity and frequent sick leave (1). SAD is a prevalent disorder with rates as high as 3-5% in central European countries and 8-10% in Scandinavian countries. In our recent screening survey among persons with severe visual impairment or blindness (visual acuity < 6/60), we found a strikingly high prevalence of SAD of 17 % compared to 8% in the fully sighted control group. Persons with maintained light perception had a highly increased SAD prevalence of 18 % whereas no light perception (NLP) respondents had an SAD prevalence of 13 %. Light is unquestionably of great importance in the development and treatment of SAD. It is suggested that a reduced retinal sensitivity to light leads to sub-threshold light input to the brain and consequently to the development of SAD. The novel retinal non-visual photoreceptors, the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), are involved in the regulation of circadian rhythm and mood and their function are in part independent of the function of the classical rod and cone photoreceptors which form the basis of conscious visual perception. Function of the ipRGCs can be assessed by chromatic pupillometry where the sustained pupillary contractions following blue light stimulation (PIPR) is the main outcome. In persons with SAD without eye disorder the function of the ipRGCs is reduced. We here wish to investigate associations between ipRGC function and SAD symptoms, circadian profile and treatment response to light therapy in persons with visual impairment. Persons with visual impairment (SAD and non-SAD) are assessed for ipRGC function with chromatic pupillometry, for seasonal mood variation by interview and questionnaire and for diurnal melatonin secretion by saliva analysis summer and winter. In winter SAD participants are treated with daily morning bright light for 6 weeks. Reduction in depression scores and tolerability is recorded.
All participants will receive free weekly counseling (8- weeks) and free nicotine patches (10-weeks). They will complete assessment measures commonly used in smoking cessation studies. We hope to show that this treatment is feasible in this small pilot study before comparing it to a more established treatment in a future randomized clinical trial.
People with serious mental illness often report difficulties with thinking skills like memory. These difficulties can make it harder to perform day-to-day activities. The purpose of this study is to test whether combining a type of non-invasive brain stimulation with computerized cognitive exercises is acceptable to participants, and whether it is helpful in improving a specific type of memory skill in people who have mental health conditions and memory deficits. This study is designed so that all participants will get both treatments: the non-invasive brain stimulation and computerized cognitive exercises. Half of the participants will start with both the brain stimulation and the cognitive exercises (dual therapy), and half will start with just the computerized exercises (monotherapy). After three weeks, participants will switch to the other condition: the people who did both treatments first will switch to just the cognitive exercises alone, and the people who started with the cognitive exercises alone will then switch to doing both the brain stimulation and cognitive exercises. Overall, participants will be in the study for about 7-8 weeks. The brain stimulation treatment involves 10 visits to the clinic over 3 weeks. The computerized cognitive exercises can be done at home, and involve 10 hours of exercises over 3 weeks. Participants will also complete paper-and-pencil assessments at the beginning, middle, and end of treatment.
Follow-up study within the Whitehall II study, selecting 800 participants for further neuropsychological, clinical and imaging (MRI) examinations to examine brain structure and function in relation to age-related diseases and the modifiable and non-modifiable factors affecting resilience against and vulnerability to adverse brain changes.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a subtype of Major Depressive Disorder, characterized by a recurrent temporal relationship between the season of year, the onset and the remission of a major depressive episode. Estimates of the annual prevalence state that 1-6% of the population will develop SAD with the larger prevalences found at greater extremes in latitude. SAD is most likely triggered by the shortening photoperiod experienced in the winter months leading to a deterioration of mood. Recent cross-sectional neuroimaging studies have found cellular and neurotransmitter changes in response to seasonality, ultimately having an impact on the affect of patients. Conversly, this study aims to investigate the changes in neurocircuitry related to depression and euthymic states. Patients with SAD offer a unique ability to study these changes since they have predictable triggers for the onset of depression (i.e. the winter months) and remission (i.e. the summer months).
Depressive symptoms are associated with significant psychosocial impairment. However, current treatments of bipolar depression are only partially effective. Cannabidiol is a natural component of cannabis without psychotomimetic or addictive properties. Cannabidiol has been shown to produce therapeutic effects including anticonvulsive, anxiolytic, antipsychotic and neuroprotective effects. The investigators hypothesize that treatment with cannabidiol will result in improvement of depressive and anxiety symptoms, as well as, improvement in functioning and inflammatory biomarkers. During the clinical trial, subjects will receive study medication (cannabidiol 150-300mg/day) or placebo for a period of 12 weeks.
The aim of this study is to explore the effects of probiotics in individuals with a clinically relevant depression on psychiatric symptoms and cognition, inflammatory parameters, as well as gene-expression. The study is conducted as a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, prospective, monocentric clinical study, with a two-arm parallel group design. Individuals in the intervention group receive the multispecies probiotics "Omnibiotics Stress Repair" in addition to vitamin B7, while individuals in the control group receive "Placebo" in addition to vitamin B7.
The project is a multi-center, prospective cohort study. The study's total targeted enrollment is 400 first-episode patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 400 healthy controls.
The primary aim of the current proposal is to test the acceptability and feasibility of a group-based transdiagnostic treatment, termed Safety Aid Reduction Treatment (START), delivered to rural Veterans. The anticipated results of the proposed study include: 1) START will be both acceptable and feasible to Veterans and mental health care providers, alike and 2) START will lead to meaningful reductions in symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Depressed patients unremitted after monotherapy with citalopram or bupropion will remit following six weeks treatment with the combination of citalopram and bupropion.