NCT04875832

EMDR for Depressed People With Multiple Sclerosis

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing for Depressed People With Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 15 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi Onlus · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Several studies have reported high rates of depression in people with MS. Depressive symptoms represent a serious threat to quality of life and well-being. Furthermore, findings from the literature suggest that mechanisms underneath depressive features and loss of physical functions in MS could be related. The current study aims at investigating the feasibility of a fairly new type of psychotherapy known as "eye movement desensitization and reprocessing" (EMDR) on depression in people with MS. The goal of this intervention is to reduce the long-lasting effects of distressing memories by developing more adaptive coping mechanisms, through bilateral sensory stimulation. Together with the study on clinical measures, brain mechanisms of change will be assessed with MRI. Fifteen depressed or mildly depressed people with MS will be recruited. Participants will be assessed for depression, and quality of life, before and after the intervention. Participants will also undergo an MRI for brain structural and functional assessments before and after the EMDR intervention. The main aim of the study is to verify that EMDR is a feasible psychotherapeutic approach for people with depression and MS and to collect preliminary data on the efficacy of this type of intervention in reducing the depressive symptoms and improving the quality of life. The study, however, will not be limited to the analysis of outcome differences. The use of MRI assessments, in fact, will allow to explore possible brain change modifications related to depression reduction and/or symptoms modifications.

Conditions

• Multiple Sclerosis
• Depression

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing - EMDR	EMDR is a comprehensive psychotherapy approach, originally developed to treat the victims of trauma. EMDR is guided by an information processing model known as the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. One of the key assumptions of the AIP model is that dysfunctionally stored (disturbing) memories are the cause of several mental pathologies. EMDR is therefore used to address a range of complaints that follow distressing life experiences and it is characterized by an eight-phase psychotherapy approach. The intervention is based on the use of bilateral stimulation (e.g., taps, tones, or eye movements), which aims to stimulate the information processing system of the brain in combination with other methods of established psychotherapies. EMDR is widely recognized as an empirically supported treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and it is one of the best psychological treatment focused on the ri-processing of recent traumatic experiences

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-05-01
• Primary completion: 2022-08-01
• Completion: 2022-11-01
• First posted: 2021-05-06
• Last updated: 2021-05-06