View clinical trials related to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
Filter by:The purpose of this study was to determine if Topiramate was safe and effective for use in civilian subjects with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
Infants born premature face numerous medical problems, causing significant anxiety for their parents. Parents experience a range of negative emotions including concern for the health and well being of their fragile infant, guilt, and disappointment. Research has indicated that having an infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is highly stressful for parents and multiple studies have demonstrated that parents can develop significant psychological reactions to this experience. Specifically, many parents develop clinically significant anxiety disorders such as acute stress disorder (ASD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This not only impacts the mental well-being of the parents, but also can lead to problems with the parent-infant relationship, and, in turn, negatively impact the infant and the family as a whole. Despite the reported negative effects parents experience due to the stress of having an infant on the NICU, surprisingly little research has examined how to reduce parents' symptoms of anxiety. Because parents play an essential role in the care of their infant after discharge from the NICU, treating the parent's emotional distress is highly important. The purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of a cognitive-behaviorally based intervention in reducing parents' symptoms of anxiety associated with having an infant on the NICU. This treatment is modeled after treatments that have proven effective with parents of children with other types of medical problems, for example, parents of children with cancer. It is the hope of the investigators that this intervention will effectively reduce symptoms of anxiety of NICU parents as well as the likelihood of developing subsequent psychological disorders.
The broad, long-term objectives of this proposal are to prevent the emergence of posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms in children admitted for an acute burn, reconstructive surgery, or non-burn injury. This study is investigating the early use of a medication in the prevention of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. Specific Aims 1 and 2: To assess the efficacy of sertraline to prevent the development of (Aim 1)posttraumatic stress disorder and (Aim 2)depression in children aged 6-20, after burn or non-burn injury or after reconstructive surgery. Hypotheses 1 and 2: Administration of sertraline after an acute burn or non-burn injury, or after reconstructive surgery will lead to greater reduction in post-traumatic and depressive symptoms over 12 and 24 weeks, compared with placebo. This study is completing the evaluation of 90 children and adolescents, aged 6-20 years. It is comparing 60 subjects receiving sertraline with 30 placebo control subjects matched for age, severity of injury, and type of hospitalization (acute vs. reconstructive). Children and families are evaluated for the presence of acute stress symptoms. Children are reassessed in a double-blind placebo-controlled design, with evaluations at Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, and Week 24. In addition, there is weekly monitoring for the first 14 weeks of the study and again at 18 weeks (the midpoint of the study). At each reassessment, information is collected on the child's compliance with the study medication, the parents' assessment of the child's functioning, and the child's self-report of posttraumatic and depressive symptomatology. The main outcome variable used in this study is the child's posttraumatic symptoms.
Combat related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the most common chronic psychiatric disorder in the veteran population. Unfortunately, outcome studies of VA PTSD programs have failed to show efficacy. VA PTSD patients have been significantly less responsive to conventional therapies than other PTSD populations. Virtual Reality based exposure therapy (VRE) allows patients to feel immersed in highly interactive computer-generated environments. Within these environments patients can be exposed to anxiety-provoking stimuli in a gradual and controlled manner so that they can become desensitized to these stimuli and, in the case of PTSD, the traumatic memories evoked by these stimuli. The advantages of VRE include less reliance on the patient's ability to visualize traumatic memories and making it more difficult for patients to avoid memories during exposure therapy. It is also safer and more convenient than in vivo exposure. In this study twenty Vietnam veterans are randomly assign to either VRE or to a Treatment as Usual (TAU) control condition. Treatment would consist of ten ninety-minute individual psychotherapy sessions for both groups. Assessments would occur at pre-treatment, immediate post-treatment and at six months post-treatment.
The purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of an integrated treatment for Veterans with comorbid chronic pain and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is hypothesized that Veterans who receive the integrated treatment will report more positive outcomes than individuals who are assigned to treatment as usual, pain treatment, or PTSD treatment.
Telemedicine has the potential to profoundly influence the delivery of specialized care to the remote veteran population suffering with PTSD. Preliminary research supports telemedicine technology as a possible solution to improve access to mental health services for veterans with PTSD. The proposed research is a treatment-outcome study that will assess the clinical efficacy of conducting an Anger Management Therapy (AMT) group treatment intervention using a videoteleconferencing (VTC) modality as compared to the traditional in-person modality with veterans who have PTSD and reside in remote locations on the Hawaiian Islands. AMT is a manual-guided cognitive-behavioral, skill based group intervention that has been used nationwide in VA substance abuse programs and most recently has been adopted by many VA PTSD Clinical Teams to treat anger-related to the sequelae of PTSD.
The goal of this clinical trial is to compare MDMA-assisted therapy to placebo with therapy in people with chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The main question it aims to answer is: Is there a reduction in PTSD symptoms among people given MDMA-assisted therapy compared to placebo with therapy? Participants will receive either MDMA-assisted therapy or placebo with therapy during two blinded experimental sessions spaced three to five weeks apart. During experimental sessions, participants receive an initial dose of 125 mg of MDMA, or placebo, followed by a dose of 62.5 mg of MDMA, or placebo. During this treatment period, participants will also undergo non-drug preparatory psychotherapy sessions and non-drug integrative sessions. The study will test whether MDMA-assisted therapy can be safely given to participants. Researchers will compare PTSD symptoms in the MDMA-assisted therapy group to the placebo with therapy group to see if there is a reduction in symptoms after the treatment period.
The purpose of this study is to examine how certain brain chemicals work in patients with Panic Disorder (PD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with and without major depressive disorder (MDD). Brain chemicals that regulate emotion, anxiety, sleep, stress hormones, and other body functions bind to serotonin (5-HT1A) and benzodiazepine (BZD) receptors. Evidence suggests that 5-HT1A and BZD receptor function is abnormal in patients with PD, PTSD, and depression. This study will use positron emission tomography (PET) scans to examine BZD and 5-HT1A receptor binding potential in patients with PD and patients with PTSD with and without co-morbid MDD, as well as in healthy volunteers. This study will also determine the effects of the stress hormone cortisol on 5-HT1A and BZD receptors. The current emotional state and psychiatric, medical, and family history of potential participants will be evaluated during an initial telephone interview. After entering the study, participants will be asked questions about general mood, degree of nervousness, and behavior. A physical examination, an electrocardiogram (EKG), and tests of intelligence and cognition will be given. Urine, blood, and saliva samples will be taken. Women will be given pregnancy tests and tests to determine menstrual phase and time of ovulation. All volunteers will undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and PET scans of the brain.
The purpose of this study is to use brain imaging technology to examine the brain activity of adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or major depressive disorder (MDD) before and after treatment. Adults with PTSD or MDD exhibit abnormalities in the structure and function of certain parts of the brain. Although PTSD and MDD are psychiatric disorders that often emerge in childhood, the relationship between these disorders and brain structures has not been thoroughly studied in adolescents with the disorders. This study will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the parts of the brain that are involved in PTSD and MDD in adolescents. Adolescents with PTSD and/or MDD will be enrolled along with healthy adolescents with or without a history of abuse. Healthy adults will also be enrolled. Participants will be screened with a physical examination; blood tests; and interviews about mood, general degree of nervousness, and behavior. Adolescents and their parents will be interviewed separately and together. Following the interviews, participants will undergo psychological tests. Participants with PTSD and/or MDD will have two weekly sessions of talk therapy. Participants who continue to experience PTSD or MDD symptoms after the talk therapy may continue the talk therapy alone, begin treatment with fluoxetine (Prozac ) alone, or begin fluoxetine in addition to the talk therapy. Participants who take fluoxetine will have blood collected before treatment and 8 weeks after treatment has begun. If participants do not respond to the treatment, the treatment will be stopped and the participants will be offered another treatment. Participants who respond to treatment will continue treatment at NIH until a referral to an outside physician is made. Depending on the experiment in which they are enrolled, participants will undergo one or four MRI scans. Participants who will have four MRI scans will undergo the scans on separate days. During the MRI, participants will complete tasks on a computer. Saliva samples will be collected before and after the scans. Participants with PTSD and/or MDD will collect their saliva one or two days before the MRI scan.
Posttraumatic stress disorder occurs in patients who have experienced, witnessed or have been confronted with an event involving actual death or the threat of death, serious injury, or the threat to physical health and felt fear, helplessness, or horror. As a result, patients continue to re-experience, recollect, dream, or have flashbacks about the traumatic incident. Research on PTSD continues to show metabolic changes in specific areas of the brain in patients diagnosed with PTSD. For example, neuroimaging studies (functional MRI and PET scans) reveal that blood flow and glucose utilization increases in the right frontal, limbic, and paralimbic areas of the brain in patients with PTSD, particularly when they are recalling the traumatic event associated with their symptoms. One potential method for interfering with the neuronal circuitry associated with traumatic memories is through the use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). This technique involves the placement of a cooled electromagnet with a figure-eight coil on the patient's scalp and rapidly turning on and off the magnetic flux. This permits non-invasive, relatively localized stimulation of the surface of the brain (cerebral cortex). The effect of magnetic stimulation varies, depending upon the location, intensity and frequency of the magnetic pulses. Preliminary clinical data shows that low frequency rTMS stimulation leads to a decrease in regional cerebral blood flow. This study is designed to determine if rTMS stimulation in patients diagnosed with PTSD leads to symptomatic improvement, reductions in blood flow to specific areas of the brain, and improvements in the regulation of the autonomic nervous system.