Clinical trials

The goal of this study is to examine the effectivity of two self-esteem interventions (COMET (Korrelboom) and CBT (De Neef)) in a general psychiatric population. The main questions it aims to answer are: * is there a difference between the two interventions in effectiveness on increasing self-esteem? * is there a difference between the two interventions in effect on levels of anxiety, depression and general mental health? * are found effects on levels of anxiety, depression and general mental health associated with changes in self-esteem? * is the ability to use imagination a moderator for outcomes in both conditions? Participants are randomised over both conditions. At baseline (T0), end of treatment (T1) and follow-up at 6 months (T2) several outcome measures are conducted, such as RSES, DASS and MHC-SF.

The goal of this observational study is to better understand how clozapine treatment can be tailored as regards minimizing side effects and optimizing efficacy and monitoring. Firstly, how clozapine is broken down into norclozapine in the liver and how both clozapine and norclozapine affect side effects are examined. In order to investigate this metabolization process in the liver inflammation levels in the blood are assessed, which inhibit the conversion of clozapine into norclozapine. In addition, various factors related to physical health are assessed, such as blood sugar, cholesterol, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure and heart rate. The role of hormones is investigated, such as cortisol, a stress hormone that affects metabolism and stress levels. Amino acids are examined, which are building blocks of proteins, and specific parts of DNA that influence clozapine metabolism. In addition, investigation follows whether 12 hours after ingestion is a well-chosen time at which the amount of clozapine is measured in the blood in case of ingestion once a day and twice a day. Finally, specific side effects of clozapine are assessed - with special attention to stool - and the severity of the psychiatric symptoms in patients with therapy resistant schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

With growing waiting lists in specialized youth mental health care (sGGZ) and shortages of care staff, finding creative solutions to respond to this scarcity issue is important. Online treatment is an example of this, which, especially for young people growing up in a digital age, can be an appropriate and accessible alternative to treatment at a physical location. Online treatment via video calling among youth, while researched and proven effective in a blended form, has not yet been sufficiently researched as a complete replacement for treatment at a physical location. As a result, the potential added value of online treatment for the pressing scarcity issue in healthcare is not yet sufficiently clear. This study therefore focuses on investigating the effectiveness of fully online treatment using two proven effective interventions: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) within the youth sGGZ. With the results of this research at GGZ-NHN, the investigators want to contribute to the development of guidelines and standards for the implementation of online treatments within Dutch youth mental health care.