Research Studies and Recruitment

• Yoga and social anxiety disorder –We are conducting an 8-week study examining whether yoga will be helpful in reducing symptoms of social anxiety. If you are eligible to take part, you will be randomly assigned to start yoga immediately or be wait-listed for 8 weeks before beginning yoga. Group yoga sessions will be offered twice a week for 8 weeks. Click here for the study poster (PDF).
• Controls needed for brain activity and yoga study – We are looking for healthy volunteers to serve as controls in an 8-week study examining the effectiveness of yoga in reducing symptoms of social anxiety. If you are eligible to take part, you will undergo non-invasive brain scans before and after 8 weeks of yoga. Group yoga sessions will be offered twice a week for 8 weeks. Click here for the study poster (PDF).
• Do you have bipolar depression? Researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) are investigating an existing medication to see if it will help patients when added to their current treatment. If you are interesting in joining the study, please call 416-260-4209 to leave a confidential message. Please click here for the pamphlet.
• Are you experiencing depression or anxiety? Researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) are evaluating people’s ability to cope with stressors and assess the relationship between food and stress in depression and anxiety by measuring hormone levels. Compensation is provided. If you are interested in joining the study, please call 416-260-4209 to leave a confidential message.
  
• Participants who have recovered from depression are needed. In the past, did you ever experience a lengthy time of:
  1. Feelings of sadness
  2. Sleeping too little or too much
  3. Loss of energy
  4. Weight loss/gain
  5. Difficulty thinking   …and are now recovered from it?
  Are you currently not taking antidepressant treatment? If so, you may be eligible to participate in a PET brain imaging study at the Clarke Division of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Participants must be aged 19-50, non-smokers, in good health and not taking any medication or illicit substances.
  Compensation provided. Please call: (416) 535-8501 ext. 6341 and PRESS 1.
  
• Are you feeling depressed? Researchers from CAMH and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre are conducting a research study using traditional antidepressant medication, as well as Light Therapy and Negative Ion Therapy. The study lasts for 8 weeks. If you are a male or female between the ages of 19 – 60, and you have been experiencing symptoms of depression for 2 weeks or longer, you may be eligible to participate. Click here to learn more. To contact us, please leave us a message at 416-480-4444 or send an email to our confidential email address: lifestudy@sunnybrook.ca. 
• Do you suffer from depression and anxiety? Researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) are investigating an existing medication to see if it will help patients who have both these symptoms. This medication will be added to current treatment, so that patients do not lose any current benefits.  If you are interesting in joining the study, please call 416-260-4209 to leave a confidential message.
• Participate in a genetic study of bipolar disorder. We are looking for male participants for a non-treatment study. Click here for more information (PDF).
• Are you suffering from depression?  The See Change Project offers 16 weeks of either antidepressant medication or cognitive behavioural therapy for depression in order to understand how different treatments for depression work.   Please click here for poster (PDF only).  Please click here for the pamphlet (PDF only).
• Postpartum Depression Brain Imaging Study - Have you recently given birth and are you currently experiencing bouts of crying, energy loss, or feelings of hopelessness? Are you pregnant with a history of postpartum depression? If so, you may be eligible to participate in a brain imaging study investigating the causes of postpartum depression. Please click here for more information.
• Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Depression Treatment Study. This study will explore repetitive TMS as a new potential treatment for those individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder who have not responded to medication treatment. Visit TMS Study for more information. (PDF Only)
• Volunteers over age 60, who are currently depressed and not taking antidepressant medication are needed for a research study. The purpose of the study is to learn more about brain chemistry in older adults with depression and the relationship to changes in mood symptoms, attention and memory problems.  If you are interested in this study, please call (416) 535-8501 ext. 7389 or click here (PDF only) for more information.
• Do you have bipolar disorder, and are you over 60 years of age? Investigators in the Geriatric Mental Health are conducting a study for which you may be eligible.  Visit Acute Pharmacotherapy of Late-life Mania or Information Sheet for more information. (PDFs only)
• The Geriatric Mental Health Program is doing a study called Cognition in Euthymic Older Adults with Bipolar Disorders. This study will investigate how bipolar disorder affects memory, attention, and other cognitive abilities in middle-aged and older adults. It will include two groups of participants. Visit participants living with bipolar disorder or participants not living bipolar disorder for more information. (PDFs only)
• Looking for plus-size research participants for a health psychology study examining eating behaviour. Please click here for more information. (PDF only)

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

• Do you experience some of the following: 
  1. A need to wash things too much
  2. A need to do things over and over again
  3. A need to do a series of unnecessary actions before certain activities
  4. Thoughts from outside of you that tell you to do something unnecessary
  5. Images in your mind that seem to come from outside of you

Have these things gotten worse recently? If so, you may be eligible to participate in a PET brain imaging study at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. To participate, you must be aged 18 to 65, have a diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), not be currently taking any street drugs, not be currently pregnant (women) and otherwise by healthy. There will be a clinical assessment and compensation will be provided. Please call: (416) 535-8501 ext. 4386.

• Do you have obsessive compulsive disorder?  If you are between the ages of 18-50, have a current diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder, and are willing to undergo a non-invasive brain scan that records brain activity, you may be eligible to participate in a research study on brain activity at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. If you are interested in learning more about this study, please call 416-260-4209 to leave a confidential message.

• Healthy women are needed for perimenopause research. Perimenopause is a time of transition before menopause. During perimenopause, periods usually become less frequent.  Some minor mood changes during this time are typical. However, 17% of women develop clinically serious depression. Help us provide solutions and new hope to manage and prevent perimenopausal depression. Compensation is provided. If you are interested in learning more about this study, please call: 416-535-8501 ext. 6341 option #2.
• Research participants are needed for a treatment study of anorexia nervosa. For more information about the study, please click here.
• Do you experience cramping, abdominal pain, gas or bloating, or constipation? Visit treatment study for functional bowel disorders if you're interested in being part of a study to find ways to alleviate these symptoms

Medication and Movement Difficulties

• If you are taking antipsychotic medications and experiencing difficulties with unwanted body movements like twitching, tremor, lip and tongue movements, please click here for a new treatment study information.