View clinical trials related to Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic.
Filter by:This is a double-blind, 2-group randomized controlled trial evaluating the effects of topiramate versus placebo in patients with comorbid PTSD and moderate-to-severe AUD. This trial will provide one of the first rigorous tests of whether the effects of topiramate in AUD generalize to patients with co-occurring PTSD, and one of the first rigorous tests of whether topiramate has beneficial effects on PTSD symptoms in this population. It will be the first study to test whether the rs2832407 genotype predicts clinical response to topiramate for AUD and PTSD in patients with both disorders. Further, it will contribute to the understanding of topiramate's mechanisms of action in the co-morbid AUD/PTSD population, and to the discovery of predictors of treatment response.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common consequence of combat that can result in trauma-related hyperarousal and sleep disturbances. Poor sleep, one of the most common complaints in Veterans with PTSD, can be distressing, impair concentration and memory, and contribute to physical health conditions, such as metabolic syndrome, inflammation, and cardiovascular disease. The orexin neuropeptide system underlies both sleep and stress reactivity. Suvorexant, a drug that reduces orexin, improves sleep in civilians, but has not yet been tested in Veterans with PTSD. This study will test whether suvorexant can improve sleep disturbances and PTSD symptoms in Veterans. Suvorexant may benefit Veterans by improving sleep quickly while also reducing PTSD symptoms over the long term, and with fewer side effects that were common in previous medications used to treat these conditions. Improving Veterans' sleep and PTSD symptoms could lead to better emotional and physical well-being, quality of life, relationships, and functioning.
One of the principal complicating factors associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) is sleep-wake disturbances (e.g., insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, and circadian rhythm sleep disorders). Morning bright light therapy (MBLT) has been shown to improve sleep quality in a variety of conditions, but little has been done investigating the utility of MBLT in improving sleep in Veterans with TBI. This proposal aims to determine the effect of MBLT on sleep quality in Veterans with TBI. Veterans with and without TBI will be recruited from the VA Portland Health Care System. Baseline questionnaires and 7 days of actigraphy will be collected prior to engaging in 60 minutes of MBLT daily for 4 weeks, during which actigraphy will also be collected continuously. Post-MBLT questionnaire data will be collected, and follow-up questionnaire data will be collected at 3 months post-MBLT.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects many individuals who experience a traumatic event. There are a variety of treatment options for PTSD, including psychotherapy (talk therapy) options, as well as medications, such as the drug prazosin. Each of the treatment options available is effective at significantly reducing the symptoms of PTSD in some, but not all, individuals with PTSD. However, investigators are not yet able to predict in advance who is likely to respond to which of the available treatments. Neither are the investigators able to explain what changes in the brain after exposure to a traumatic stressors, and why it results in persistent symptoms of PTSD for some people, but not for others. In this study, the investigators are testing two things: First, is testing whether two simple, easy tests of how an individual's blood pressure changes with standing and how an individual's eye reacts to a pulse of light may be able to predict whether that person is likely to respond to the medication prazosin for PTSD. Second, is testing whether those who have been exposed to a traumatic stress show differences in how their body regulates the response to the stress-signal noradrenaline.
This research project seeks to acquire a deeper understanding of the complex influences of common factors and specific ingredients in psychotherapy. By using frequent process-outcome measures, it will address individualized mechanisms of change in psychotherapy by assessing both between and within patient change processes, using a wide spectrum of change indicators.
The purpose of this study is to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how the human brain learns to form associations between neutral and emotional stimuli. The study is based on the basic principles of Pavlovian conditioning. When someone learns that a neutral stimulus (such as the sound of a bell) predicts an unpleasant stimulus (such as a mild electrical shock), the neutral stimulus takes on the properties of an emotional stimulus. The investigators are interested in the neural processes involved in this learning in people with a clinical anxiety disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
We are evaluating a model where trauma exposure and threatening environments elicit nocturnal vigilance and sleep-related fears that compromise the healthy reduction of autonomic arousal during sleep which in turn stimulates secretion of atherogenic humoral factors, arterial stiffening, and cardiovascular disease risk. We will examine the roles of pre-sleep cognition using a questionnaire and real time assessment, and modifiable strategies for coping with sleep disruptive cognitions. We will then evaluate the impact of providing personalized feedback and recommendations based on study observations on how participants cope with potentially sleep disruptive cognitions and sleep efficiency in a randomized trial.
The long term goal for the Traumatic Injury Research Program (TIRP) is testing of novel devices for the identification and longitudinal assessment of traumatic brain injury (TBI). DoD (United States Department of Defense) has now tasked TIRP with the test and evaluation of these devices to assess reliability and validity. The objective of this effort is to test the reliability of the NKI, Inc, (NeuroKinetics, Inc) i-PAS device using a test/re-test protocol with healthy controls. The research design is test/re-test, with three assessments obtained on three separate visits. This will allow the assessment of reliability of both the device and the measure(s) that are computed from the input signals. Participants will be Healthy Controls (HC) as defined in the inclusion exclusion section. In this initial study, investigators will be administering standardized self-report instruments (Standard Form 36 - SF36, and Symptom Checklist 90r, or SCL-90r), standard three-lead EKG. In addition they will administer the NKI i-PAS specific protocol as delineated by NKI.
The admission of a loved one in an ICU is a hard experience for family members. They frequently feel fear and grief, develop anxiety and depression symptoms, or even show some behaviors as this event was a real traumatic one, like hyper-arousal, avoidance and intrusion in the daily life.To improve the communication between them and the ICU staff members, and to meet their needs in terms of medical comprehension and emotional legitimization, a specific website was built, and a brochure was printed to make them welcomed in the ICU; moreover, a series of poster was prepared for the family waiting room outside the ICU. These instruments appeared able to improve the correctness of prognosis comprehension and to decrease the post-traumatic stress symptoms in a multicenter study involving Italian ICUs. The proposal of the present study is to verify on a larger scale if these instruments can really ameliorate the empathic communication among staff members, without increase in workload, and to make less traumatic, for the family members, their experience during and after the ICU stay.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common debilitating disorder that affects many individuals exposed to aversive events. The severity of PTSD symptoms is positively correlated with amygdala activation. More severe PTSD symptoms following exposure to stressful events, are associated with amygdala hyper-responsivity prior to exposure. A possible intervention for PTSD is Neurofeedback (NF) - a treatment method based on learned self-modulation of neural activity in response to feedback of neural signal. Previous work in our lab established a NF training procedure that utilizes the temporal abilities of EEG with the spatial advantages of fMRI. Further work based on this method using the amygdala BOLD signal (EEG-finger-print, EFP) has demonstrated a potential for improving the ability to self-regulate amygdala activity and to improve emotional regulation in a healthy population. The current study aims to investigate the potential of this method as a therapeutic intervention for PTSD among women with a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA).