People who have only somewhat recovered from depression with standard treatments and continue to experience depressive symptoms such as excessive self-blame are at an increased risk of further depressive episodes. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand the mechanisms by which self-blame affects depression and to develop novel alternative treatments, especially for people whose depression has not responded fully to antidepressants and talking therapies. The aim of this research project is to understand self-blaming emotions in major depressive disorder and to test the clinical benefits of a novel treatment approach. When agreeing to participate, you would be asked questions about psychiatric, medical and neurological symptoms by using questionnaires and interviews. We would also use tests, some of them on a computer to test your cognitive, emotional and social skills. Following this assessment you will then be allocated to one of 2 treatment groups which may either involve magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during neurofeedback training or a solely psychological intervention. The imaging is done on a normal Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanner. There is no radiation or injections or any other medical procedure involved and if all precautions are taken, there are no known long-term risks of the imaging procedure. You will receive 3 treatment sessions whereby your mood will be assessed before and after each session. Following all treatment sessions, your mental health and cognitive functioning will be assessed at a follow-up appointment. There are no documented direct benefits for you. It is you who will benefit the progress of medical research. You can make an important contribution to a better understanding and treatment of depression by participating in our research project. However, we can reimburse your travel costs and time taken and we will give you access to the results of all tests performed including a copy of your brain image of you had been allocated to the MRI-neurofeedback group. If you wish, you will receive regular updates on the progress of the study and new results published by our group. If we detect any abnormalities on your brain scan or obtain important diagnostic information, we will inform you and your general practitioner. If you are interested in participating, please contact us by e-mail or phone. We would then schedule a 15 minute phone interview to see whether there are any conditions which would make it impossible for us to include you into the study. Some of them you could already check for yourself:
You need to
- be right-handed
- be proficient in English
- live in the Greater London Area or within 2 hours travel distance
- be 18 years or older
- have no history of or current substance or alcohol abuse
- have no history of bipolar disorder or hypomania
- still experience significant or major symptoms over the past 6 weeks despite receiving treatment
