Anxiety & Depression Association of America

In this study, investigators are testing whether a higher dose of a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), can be safely used in people with depression. Participants will come to the Brain Stimulation Lab and receive mild electrical stimulation through electrodes placed on their scalp. The study begins with a safety run-in, where the first few participants will receive stimulation at gradually increasing levels (2, 4, and 6 milliamps) while being closely monitored. If no serious side effects are found, later participants will receive repeated 6 milliamp sessions for 5 days total. Investigators will check skin comfort, mood, and overall tolerability after each session.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Dec 2025

open study

In the U.S., legal cannabis is frequently advertised as an effective treatment for mental health problems such as anxiety and depression-particularly online. States that have legalized cannabis have not implemented regulations to address this type of advertising. This project aims to investigate the influence of psychotherapeutic advertising claims (PAC) and mental health warning labels (WL) on online cannabis purchasing behaviors among light-to-moderate cannabis users with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. The specific aims are to determine whether PAC increases cannabis purchasing intentions and whether a mental health WL can mitigate this effect. A realistic online cannabis shopping experience will be simulated using the digital Platform for Online Evaluation of Marijuana Marketing and Sales (POEMMS). The study will employ a between-subjects experimental design by randomizing 2,000 participants to one of four online stores that vary in PAC and WL content: (1) a control claims (CC)-only store, (2) a PAC store, (3) a WL store, and (4) a PAC + WL store. Participants will browse and select items as if making real purchases. Analyses will examine three primary outcomes to determine the influence of PAC and WL on purchasing behaviors: (1) total milligrams of THC purchased, (2) average potency (%THC) of products, and (3) overall number of products purchased. The long-term objective is to inform evidence-based cannabis policy and regulatory strategies by understanding the impact of cannabis marketing on vulnerable populations. This research is relevant to public health by addressing the potential risks associated with misleading cannabis marketing, which may lead to increased use and exacerbation of mental health symptoms among individuals with depression and anxiety. The project leverages a multidisciplinary team with expertise in addiction, mental health, epidemiology, and digital health technology. The findings have the potential to inform the development of targeted interventions and policies to reduce harms associated with cannabis advertising-ultimately contributing to better health outcomes and more effective regulation.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2026

open study

This phase II trial tests the safety and side effects of psilocybin in combination with therapy for the treatment of major depressive disorder in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. A cancer diagnosis is life-changing, resulting in significant levels of psychological symptoms, including a combination of depression, anxiety, stress, including feelings of existential distress (i.e., loss of meaning, demoralization, despair). Among all cancer patients, those diagnosed with lung cancer have the highest prevalence of mood disorders, such as depression (up to 40%) leading to profound deterioration in quality of life, prolonged hospital stays, poorer treatment adherence, decreased survival rates, and high rates of suicide (5- and 3-times higher than the general population and other cancer patients, respectively). Psilocybin is substance being studied in the treatment of anxiety or depression in patients with advanced cancer. It is taken from the mushroom Psilocybe mexicana. Psilocybin acts on the brain to cause hallucinations (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or touches that a person believes to be real but are not real). Psilocybin in combination with therapy may be safe and effective in treating major depressive disorder in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jan 2026

open study

Sub-clinical behavioral health services in the military are performed by BH technicians, who receive minimal training. Due to this, embedding more technicians in military units is unlikely to benefit service members. Giving technicians training in, and access to, evidence-based interventions (EBI) could make their work more effective. The proposed study is a training trial examining the efficacy of the full integrated operational support (IOS) toolkit (evidence-based interventions for behavioral health), relative to routine care using standard resources, as a prevention resource for active-duty airmen.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2025

open study

This is a randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of Resilience Training in college students with elevated transdiagnostic risk for developing a serious mental illness.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2025

open study

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the implementation of the WE CARE social determinants of health (SDOH) screening and referral intervention with an antiracist lens in primary care settings can lead to a meaningful decrease in chronic disease by monitoring conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, depression, hyperlipidemia, and asthma through clinical measures. The main question it aims to answer is: Does the WE CARE SDOH screening and referral intervention applying an antiracism lens informed implementation strategies have the potential to reduce racial/ethnic health inequities in chronic diseases for minoritized patients?

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2025

open study

This study develops and tests a dynamic workplace-based depression intervention that is tailored to the specific social and behavioral needs of low-wage hospital service workers. The intervention involves assessment of depression-related work impairment, work-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, work coaching, social needs screening and referral, and text message support for mood and physical activity.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: May 2026

open study

Investigators are conducting this study to test if temporarily and non-invasively stimulating the brain will affect the emotional response to stress in healthy participants. Participants will perform a series of tasks while completing an MRI scan. After this, participants will be randomized to undergo transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) at two visits, undergoing active stimulation at one visit and undergoing 'sham' stimulation at another visit. Immediately following both stimulation sessions, participants will repeat the tasks during MRI scanning.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2025

open study

The purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of CYB003 compared to matching placebo as adjunctive treatment in participants with MDD.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Dec 2024

open study

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if zelquistinel works to treat depression in adults. It will also learn about the safety of zelquistinel. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does zelquistinel reduce depression scores in participants compared to participants who take a placebo (a look-alike tablet that contains no zelquistinel)? What medical problems are observed in participants who take zelquistinel? Participants will take one tablet of zelquistinel or placebo every week for 6 weeks. Participants will visit the clinic every week of the 6 week period to have the severity of their depression evaluated.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2025

open study

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the feasibility and effectiveness of an 8-week social engagement program aimed at reducing depression and increasing social engagement among seniors who are transitioning out of Adult Protective Services (APS) for either elder abuse or self-neglect.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2023

open study

TRIAGE-Psych is a survey study designed to assess potential participants' eligibility to screen for industry-sponsored psychiatry clinical trials.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Dec 2021

open study

This study will provide data for evaluating the psychometric characteristics of the tests assessing cognitive flexibility, including their (1) internal consistency, (2) feasibility and tolerability, their (3) convergent and discriminant validity of cognitive and affective constructs such as those introduced to understand mental disorders, and (4) sensitivity (and correspondence) to individual differences. For these tests to be useful in studying clinical conditions, they must show adequate reliability, validity, and sensitivity in large samples of convenience.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Feb 2023

open study

The purpose of this clinical trial is to answer the question: can the investigators predict which adults with social anxiety disorder (SAD) will successfully respond to treatment? To answer this question, the investigators plan to recruit 190 adult participants who experience extreme forms of social anxiety to undergo brain imaging before and after 12 weeks of group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Adults in the SAD group who do not respond enough to group CBT may be offered the opportunity to complete an additional 12 weeks of individual CBT while receiving SSRI medication (sertraline, see below) for SAD. Data collected from participants who experience anxiety will be compared to a group of 50 participants with little or no social anxiety, who will serve as a comparison group.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: May 2023

open study

A 24-week, patient- and rater-blinded, two-arm, parallel-group controlled, and multi-centre randomized clinical trial (RCT) to establish the benefits of pharmacogenetics-informed pharmacotherapy versus dosing as usual (DAU) in psychiatric patients suffering from mood, anxiety, or psychotic disorders.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2023

open study

The investigators will be comparing brain (neural) activation of depressed adolescent patients before, during and after a course of Behavioral Activation (BA) therapy using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In particular, the project seeks to determine whether BA targets different neural mechanisms for behavioral avoidance associated with low motivation as compared to threat avoidance. A group of healthy controls will also be scanned as a comparator group for behavioral and imaging measures.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jan 2023

open study

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of ketamine on decision-making and emotion processing in a sample of individuals diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2022

open study

This is a prospective, single center, double blind, randomized, crossover feasibility study of oral ketamine versus placebo for the treatment of anxiety in patients with pancreatic cancer currently receiving or within 12 weeks of receiving cancer targeted therapy. The primary objective is to determine the feasibility of enrolling subjects and treatment adherence. The secondary objectives are to describe the safety and tolerability. Exploratory objectives are to assess the effect of ketamine/placebo on Depression, Anxiety, Physical Function, Pain Interference, Pain Intensity, Fatigue, Sleep Disturbance, and Ability to Participate in Social Roles and Activities as measured by PROMIS Anxiety Short Form 7a and the PROMIS-29 Profile v2.1 of Patient Reported Outcomes, as well as changes in circulatory inflammatory cytokines, blood glutamine levels, and other biomarkers of anxiety and/or depression.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2022

open study

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious mental illness that can put people at risk of self-harm and death. Many drugs are used to treat MDD, but it can take a long time for them to be effective. Researchers want to know if a faster-acting drug, (2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine (HNK), can better treat the symptoms of MDD. Objective: To test a study drug (HNK) in people with MDD. Eligibility: People aged 18 to 70 years with MDD. They must have had a screening assessment under protocol 01-M-0254. Design: Participants will be tapered off their current MDD drugs over 2 to 5 weeks. They will stay off of the drugs for up to 2 weeks prior to starting the study medication and procedures. They will have a physical exam with blood tests. They will have tests of their heart function, mood, and thinking. They will answer questions about their symptoms. They may choose to have imaging scans and scans of their brain activity. HNK is given through a tube attached to a needle inserted into a vein. Participants will receive infusions on this schedule: They will receive 4 infusions over 2 weeks. They will stay in the clinical center overnight after each infusion or for the duration of the study. They will receive no drugs for 2 to 3 weeks. They will have 4 more infusions over 2 weeks, with overnight stays after each or for the duration of the study. One set of 4 infusions will be the HNK. The other set of 4 infusions will be a placebo. A placebo looks just like the real drug but contains no medicine. Participants will not know when they are getting the HNK or placebo. ...

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2024

open study

This research study seeks to find causes and treatments of depression in teenagers. The study goals are to increase our knowledge of treatments for depression and understand how the brain changes when teenagers have depression. The study will also compare teenagers with depression to those without mental health diagnoses. This outpatient study is recruiting participants ages 11-17 who are depressed. They must have a pediatrician or other medical provider, be medically healthy, and able to perform research tasks. They may not currently be hospitalized, psychotic or actively suicidal. Teenagers with depression are eligible even if they are taking medication. The study begins with an evaluation that includes clinical assessment, interviews, and questionnaires. - Visits may include paper-and-pencil and computer tests of mood, memory, and thinking; specialized computer games; and structural and brain imaging. If eligible, study participants may return several times a year for up to two years. This part of the study does not involve treatment. - Participants may be eligible for outpatient treatment for up to 25 weeks. This includes evidenced-based "talk" therapy. Participants may choose either Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Adolescents (IPT-A) or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). If indicated, participants may opt to receive standard medication treatments along with psychotherapy. Research includes computer tasks and brain imaging. All clinical evaluations, research tasks and visits are free of cost. Participants are compensated for research activities. Parents and teenager must agree to the teenager s participation in research. The study is conducted at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland and enrolls participants from the Washington DC Metro region within 50 miles of NIH. Transportation expenses are reimbursed by NIMH.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Dec 2017

open study

This study is being conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to explore whether adding psychedelic coaching can enhance the effects of ketamine or esketamine maintenance treatment in individuals with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). The investigators are currently enrolling participants who are receiving ongoing maintenance intravenous (IV) ketamine or intranasal esketamine (Spravato) treatment at the MGH Ketamine Clinic. Participation in the study will involve adding coaching sessions to your existing ketamine maintenance treatment.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2026

open study

Many people with depression do not get better with standard treatments like medication. One promising alternative is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a non-invasive procedure that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate specific brain regions. A particular pattern of TMS called continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) is thought to reduce overactive brain activity in depression, but the investigators do not yet fully understand how it works at the level of brain cells and connections. This study aims to determine the biological mechanism by which cTBS changes brain activity in people with depression. Specifically, the investigators are testing two competing ideas: (1) that cTBS works by weakening the connections between brain cells through a process called long-term depression (LTD), which is driven by a chemical messenger system called glutamate; or (2) that cTBS works by increasing the brain's natural "braking" system, driven by a different chemical messenger called GABA. To test these ideas, participants with depression will receive cTBS along with one of four FDA-approved medications, or placebo, that either boost or block these chemical messenger systems. The investigators will measure changes in brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG) recorded simultaneously with TMS. Specific patterns in the EEG signal, called TMS-evoked potentials (TEPs), act as a window into how different brain cell types are responding to stimulation. Each participant will complete four study visits, each testing a different drug-TMS combination in random order. One group of participants will test drugs targeting the glutamate system (d-cycloserine and memantine). A second group will test drugs targeting the GABA system (lorazepam and baclofen). All drugs are given as a single oral dose and are commonly used in clinical practice. Understanding exactly how cTBS works at a biological level could open the door to more effective, personalized TMS treatments.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2026

open study

To deliver a 30-minute binaural beats audio intervention in PACU and collect pain and anxiety outcomes immediately following surgery, and 4 hours following surgery completion in adults undergoing ambulatory total knee arthroplasty and total hip arthroplasty (TKA and THA).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2026

open study

The goal of the REVEAL PTSD study is to test how well the Senseye DT works as a diagnostic test for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in adults 18 and older who are experiencing one or more symptoms that might be related to PTSD. The Senseye DT is software as a medical device (SaMD) and is an iPhone app that administers a series of simple tasks on the phone while recording video during the tasks through the front-facing camera. The videos are analyzed by a an Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm to identify physiologic signals that might be indicative of PTSD. Data collected in this study will be used to train and tune the AI algorithm, then test it for accuracy. The main questions this study aims to answer are: 1. How accurate is the Senseye DT in detecting PTSD compared to structured clinical interviews, the current clinical standard for diagnostic testing? 2. How accurately does the Senseye DT predict PTSD severity? 3. How fast is the Senseye DT to use compared to structured clinical interviews? Participants will attend a virtual screening visit via video call to determine eligibility and consent to participate. Once enrolled, participants will attend 2 or 3 additional study visits: - Visit 1: A virtual visit where standard mental health assessments will be given by clinical raters trained in mental health and administering these structured clinical interviews. These assessments include the Structured Interview Guide for the Montgomery-Asburg Depression Rating Scale (SIGMA), the Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (SIGH-A), and the MINI International Neurodiagnostic Interview. The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 Revised Version (CAPS-5-R) may also be conducted, if randomly selected. - Visit 2: A visit to use the Senseye DT. For participants near one of the study's physical site locations, this visit will be done in person at the site. For all others, this visit will be conducted virtually. - Visit 3: For participants not randomly selected to have the CAPS-5-R administered at Visit 1, a third and final visit will be scheduled for this assessment. This visit will be conducted virtually. The total expected participation time for enrolled participants is 6-7 hours over the course of 2-3 weeks.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2026

open study

The main goal of this study is to determine if psilocybin is safe for use in people with SCI. The study will measure how people with SCI respond to three psilocybin doses: low (5mg), medium (10mg), and high (25mg). The main question the study aims to answer is: does psilocybin increase the number and severity of adverse (bad) events reported by people with SCI? These may include pain, muscle spasms, symptoms of depression, and symptoms of low or high blood pressure. The investigators will also measure how well people with SCI tolerate the psychedelic experience, and compare responses between the low (5mg), medium (10mg), and high (25mg) doses. Participants will: - Agree to be enrolled in the study for up to 13 months. - Agree to complete the seven (7) visits that are included in the psilocybin-assisted therapy. - Agree to complete follow-up study visits, including in-person visits to the James J Peters VA Medical Center, located in the Bronx, New York and remote visits. - Agree to keep a log of how they are feeling and any change in the frequency or severity of adverse events.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: May 2026

open study