Why Join a Clinical Trial

You'll find several personal, community, and financial reasons to consider joining a clinical trial.

First, you can gain access to promising new treatments before they become widely available.

Plus, you'll gain the added benefit of highly personalized care and regular monitoring by expert medical teams who have time to spend listening to your experience, when your regular doctor may not.

You also get to become part of a community. It feels good to be a part of something. Since those with depression often struggle with feelings of isolation and lack of interest, this can certainly be a perk.

With that said, participating in a clinical trial is an investment of time and potentially money, so you may be wondering: Do I get paid for clinical trial participation?

Compensation and Reimbursement

Many trials offer compensation for time, travel, and other expenses. Depending on the length of the trial and time commitment involved, there may also be a stipend on top of expense reimbursement. This amount can be anywhere from $100 to several thousand dollars. This amount is relative to the time and effort your participation requires.

For those in the 50+ crowd, who may have reduced work schedules but are not in retirement, a depression clinical trial could supplement income while also getting involved in an important cause to help others.

Keep in mind that compensation is recognition of time and effort, not risk. In other words, higher compensation does not necessarily mean it's more dangerous. Feel free to look for high-paying clinical trials if you have the time to get involved.

How to Find and Evaluate Depression Clinical Trials

Clinicaltrials.gov is a good place to start, especially if you don't mind travel, since these trials could be anywhere—usually in a city where you may also have plenty to see and do while you're there.

If you live in/near a city with a research hospital or university, you may also find clinical trials right here in your community.

If you're looking for something a little more local, consider reaching out directly to a hospital or university within driving distance. They may either be running a trial or know of a trial in your area.

A trial could be closer than you think!

Your doctor can also refer you to a trial if they believe you may benefit from a new treatment.

It's important to note that many modern clinical trials don't require everyone to travel to a single lab. Rather, they're decentralized to make it easier for more people to participate. So, you might meet with researchers remotely once or twice a week while getting your labs, tests, and checkups at local clinics on a schedule.

This makes joining a trial even easier.

Assessing a Clinical Trial

It's important to consider who's running the trial. Check up on them. Are they a reputable organization?

Find out what's expected of you and make sure you understand potential risks. While it's understandable that some people will need to drop out, they're looking for people who can commit to the length of the trial, barring some unforeseen emergency.

Also, find out what phase it's in so you clearly understand what's involved.

Phase I - Safety and Dosage

At this phase, they've completed animal testing with promising results. They need to ensure the method is also safe for humans. This trial usually tries a low dose on a small group of generally healthy people and monitors for any adverse reactions.

In this phase, they will begin increasing the dose to find the one that offers the most benefit with the least adverse effects.

They also study how the human body absorbs and metabolizes the drug (when applicable) to aid in the next phase.

Phase II - Efficacy and Side Effects

In this phase, researchers will learn how the drug works on a larger group of people. This will help them refine dosing recommendations and measure how much different people improve with what dose.

Phase III - Confirmation and Comparison

They will recruit 1000s of people across demographics to make sure that their phase II results hold up in the general population.

They will also compare the treatment with existing ones and a placebo to make sure it's statistically equivalent or better. At the same time, they're assessing any long-term effects that prescribing doctors and patients will need to be aware of after approval.

This comprehensive data will then be compiled and analyzed for FDA approval (in the US).

Do You Qualify for a Depression Clinical Trial?

Generally speaking, researchers will be looking for mostly healthy people between 18 and 65 years old who have been diagnosed with depression and are currently experiencing hard-to-manage symptoms. Depending on the method being studied, they may have other criteria.

You will need to learn about the potential risks, ask any questions and provide your informed consent to take part in the study.

Clinical Trials for Depression: Are the Risks Worth the Reward

If you struggle with hard-to-treat depression, clinical trials can provide you with an opportunity to gain early access to better treatment methods. While there are risks in any trial, know that researchers actively monitor those risks to maintain a safe trial environment. And you can assess these risks and who's conducting the trial before you agree.

Joining a depression clinical trial can be a great way to help yourself and others now and into the future.