Objective: To evaluate and compare the efficacy of Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and Ketamine infusions in hospitalized patients suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD). Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Place and duration of study: Armed Forces Institute of Mental Health, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Feb to Apr 2021. Methodology: Forty in-patients diagnosed as having MDD...
Major advances are taking place regarding 5 different new treatments for depression. These include NMDA modulators, psychedelics, brain stimulation, GABA modulators, and anti-inflammatories.
Ketamine is a novel drug used for treatment- resistant depression. The initial randomized controlled trials (RCTs) established intravenous (IV) ketamine's rapid antidepressant effects for refrac-tory major depression, leading to its widespread use. However, the data for ketamine's efficacy in treatment- resistant bipolar depression (TRBD) remain minimal. There are 3 single infusion RCTs ( n =...
Hallucinations limit widespread therapeutic use of psychedelics as rapidly acting antidepressants. Here we profiled the non-hallucinogenic lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) analog 2-bromo-LSD (2-Br-LSD) at more than 33 aminergic G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). 2-Br-LSD shows partial agonism at several aminergic GPCRs, including 5-HT2A, and does not induce the head-twitch response (HTR) in...
Abstract Background The benefits of low-dose ketamine for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and prominent suicidal ideation require further investigation. The effects of treatment refractoriness, the duration of the current depressive episode, and the number of prior antidepressant failures on ketamine efficacy also require clarification. Methods We recruited 84 outpatients...
Abstract Background Cancer and its treatments have the potential to significantly impact mental health, provoking feelings of anxiety, depression, and distress, which can last long after treatment is over. One of the most rapidly emerging influences in the healthcare field is mindfulness‐based interventions (MBIs), which are designed to cultivate present moment awareness, attentional...
Background: Several early phase studies have demonstrated that psilocybin-assisted therapy has rapid-acting and persisting antidepressant effects from just one or two doses. However, methodological limitations (e.g., placebo-control, blinding) limit interpretability of the existing literature. Methods: In an exploratory placebo-controlled, within-subject, fixed-order study, individuals with...
Youth depression is often associated with impairments in cognitive function, especially in executive function. This study examines the effect of an 8-session-long mindfulness training that can improve executive function in youth with depression. Sixty youths (age range 15-27 years) with depression were selected as participants and were randomized into a mindfulness training group (MTG) and a...
This exploratory post hoc analysis of two pooled 4-week, phase 3, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled studies that compared esketamine nasal spray plus a newly initiated oral antidepressant (ESK+AD; n = 310) with a newly initiated oral AD plus placebo nasal spray (AD+PBO; n = 208) in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) examined baseline patient demographic and...
Purpose: Suicide is a major public health concern with currently no validated and efficacious treatments approved. Preliminary evidence suggests that intravenous ketamine has rapid and sustained antidepressant effects, making it a candidate with therapeutic potential for depressed patients at risk for suicide. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of ketamine and esketamine in...
Brain SciencesMarch 13, 2023M V Giulietti, Roberta Spatuzzi, Paolo Fabbietti et al.
Bachground In this study, we hypothesize that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may improve well-being and the related outcomes in Alzheimer's dementia patients (AD-P) at an early stage. MBIs consist of the practice of consciously observing the psychic contents in the present moment (thoughts, sensations, feelings, and other events). This attention allows one to become aware of the psychic...
Objectives: Life-threatening cancer or other diseases can induce anxiety and depressive symptoms. We performed a systematic review with meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials assessing patients with cancer or other life-threatening diseases using validated anxiety and depression scales. Methods: PubMed was searched up to November 15, 2022 and citations were applied to prespecified...
BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a stressful event in life and anxiety and depression are common in these patients. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) may help and reduce mood disorders in patients with MS. In this regard, the present study is carried out aiming to evaluate the effect of MBSR on anxiety and depression in women with MS. METHODS: This was a quasi-experimental study...
In medicine, psychedelics were initially considered as a tool for clinicians to understand psychotic states. Based on the presented case data, a reversal of that concept is proposed: psychedelics could be conceptualized as a tool for people chronically anxious and depressed since early childhood to understand ordinary states of mind (e.g. calmness, hopefulness, relaxation, and joy). The case...
While a relatively large body of research exists on many aspects of psychedelic therapy, articles describing a complete, successful treatment process are rarely found. This article therefore presents a case of a woman in her early forties with early complex trauma due to domestic violence, sexual abuse and poverty in her childhood, resulting in approximately three decades of treatment resistant...
Background Meta-analyses show efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in terms of relapse prevention and depressive symptom reduction in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, most studies have been conducted in controlled research settings. Aims We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of MBCT in patients with MDD presenting in real-world clinical practice....
Objectives Cognitive-behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy are effective insomnia treatments, yet half of patients do not remit. Emerging evidence indicates refractory cognitive arousal is associated with poor insomnia treatment outcomes, giving rise to the concept that therapeutic approaches directly aimed at reducing cognitive arousal may benefit patients with a history of inadequate...
Objectives: Evidence suggests that ketamine's influence on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) might be involved in its mechanism of rapid antidepressant action. We aimed to evaluate the differential impact of ketamine and esketamine on serum BDNF levels and its association with response patterns in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Methods: Participants (n = 53) are from a randomized,...
Depression is a major public health concern. Unfortunately, the present antidepressants often are insufficiently effective, whilst the discovery of more effective antidepressants has been extremely sluggish. The objective of this review was to combine the literature on depression with the pharmacology of antidepressant compounds, in order to formulate a conceivable pathophysiological process,...
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has high rates of comorbidity with mood disorders, including treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Comorbidity of BPD with depression is associated with poorer response to antidepressants. Intravenous ketamine is a novel treatment for TRD that has not been specifically evaluated in patients with comorbid BPD. In this retrospective analysis of data collected...