Rücklab – Psychiatry research at Karolinska Institutet
Research on OCD and related disorders, precision psychiatry, psychiatric genetics, suicide prevention, stress and PTSD
Yesterday, Max made an outstanding appearance on TV4 Efter fem talking about obsessive-compulsive disorder and the Bergen study. The Bergen 4-day treatment compares an intensive treatment format of four consecutive days of combined group and individual therapy with gold-standard weekly treatment.
Recently, you may have come across our research in your daily podcast feed.
In Beslutspodden, Lina Martinsson – research team leader and operations manager at Psykiatri Sydväst – visits and talks about her career as a reserarcher/clinician/manager. Lina runs the Braining project – physical activity in a clinical setting, involving both patients and clinicians.
We also noticed that our Bergen 4 day treatment non-inferiority RCT for OCD was mentioned in the Daddy Issues podcast a while ago. Julia Lyskova talks about her experience of being a participant in the study’s intensive treatment study arm. She describes her OCD-related problems and the extent to which they have affected her daily life and well-being. “I have thought that I have killed everyone I love”, Lyskova says in the podcast, summarizing what it can feel like to live with the disorder. She also describes her ambivalence about participating and approaching what she is afraid of, how much willpower is required to attend the treatment and the experience of improvement.
Take the time to listen to these two podcasts that bridge research and reality.
Click here to read more about Braining.
Click here to read mor about the Bergen 4-day treatment and the randomized controlled trial.
The latest issue of Medicinsk Vetenskap features an interview with research team leader Christian Rück on the evolution of the research focus over the years.
Rücklab research focus areas
As the research team has grown, the focus areas have become more diverse. From focusing on and showing good results for internet-mediated CBT for OCD, the research has evolved to include several OCD-related conditions such as dysmorphophobia, hoarding disorder, olfactory reference syndrome, trichotillomania and skin-picking disorder.
The group has also expanded to include research on stress and fatigue, novel treatments for PTSD and precision psychiatry, which means finding the right treatment for the right patient.
Finally, a relatively new focus for the group is suicide, a complex area in terms of risk factors and prevention. Click here to read more about the group’s ongoing projects.
Today Lina nailed her thesis at the Karolinska University Library in Huddinge 🔨
From efficacy to implementation: Applying internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy in the treatment of OCD
In Louise Epstein and Ola Hermanson’s podcast “I hjärnan på Louise Epstein”, Diana is interviewed about obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
She talks about what we know about what happens in the brain of patients with OCD, about diagnostics and the psychological treatment: exposure with ritual prevention. The treatment involves finding the obsessions and refraining from doing what feels right in the moment but in the long run upholds the problems. Author Amanda Romare also participates in the podcast and talks about her own experiences with OCD and CBT treatment.
Diana also talks about her research on Deep brain stimulation for patients with severe OCD who have not responded to various forms of psychotherapy and/or medication.
Fresh off the press! On executive functions, gut microbiome and genetics in obsessive-compulsive disorder, by Long-Long Chen✌️.
Today, Max Sannemalm – now a PhD student 🎉 – held his individual study plan (ISP) seminar. The ISP seminar is an opportunity to get input and feedback before starting the projects. Marianne Kristiansson and Joar Guterstam participated from the advisory board and Nitya Jayaram-Lindström participated as an adjunct member.
At the seminar, Max presented the four studies which forms his doctoral studies:
He will be conducting the B4DT study, a non-inferiority study comparing the Bergen 4-day treatment for OCD to conventional CBT for OCD. Along with the RCT, he will do a cost-effectiveness analysis and a qualitative analysis about B4DT and its implementation. In addition, the plan is to do a pilot trial of an ultra-intensive treatment for patients with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).
Looking forward to seeing Max working wonders!
Vi har just öppnat anmälan till en studie som jämför två olika behandlingsformer för personer med tvångssyndrom.
Läs mer och anmäl dig här: www.ocdprojektet.se
Kognitiv beteendeterapi (KBT) har visat sig vara effektivt för att lindra både tvångstankar och tvångshandlingar när den genomförs under 14 veckor. Karolinska Institutet och Region Stockholm genomför nu en studie som jämför denna typ av KBT med en intensivbehandling som pågår i 4 heldagar.
Mer information
English translation: We have opened the registration for an RCT comparing a new concentrated treatment for OCD to golden standard CBT.
Sunny midsummer was great, but we are even happier that Max Sannemalm just joined our group!
Max is a licensed psychologist and will be joining us as the project coordinator for the randomized controlled non-inferiority trial study comparing the Bergen 4-Day Treatment (B4DT) to gold-standard CBT for OCD.
The Bergen 4-Day Treatment (B4DT) is a new concentrated treatment for OCD developed by Gerd Kvale and Bjarne Hansen from Bergen. In B4DT, patients receive ERP at a clinic during 4 consecutive days. The B4DT has shown to achieve remission in around 70% of patients when delivered in regular care in several uncontrolled treatment trials, and one randomized controlled trial (RCT) including a self-help group and a waitlist group. However, it has yet to be directly compared to gold-standard CBT.
The study will test the non-inferiority, speed of recovery, and cost-effectiveness of B4DT, compared to gold-standard.
To summarize: Exciting things ahead, and welcome to the group, Max!
Big day today! Oskar Flygare received his PhD after successfully defending his thesis. Congratulations!
Oskar defended his dissertation “Improving access and outcomes in the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder”, today June 10th 9am at the Erna Möller hall at Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge.
The opponent was the excellent associate prof. Carolyn Rodriguez from Stanford University who participated via video link. Oskar was accompanied by supervisor prof. Christian Rück and co-supervisor associate prof. Erik Andersson. Co-supervisor prof. David Mataix-Cols participated via video link. The examination board consisted of associate prof. Monica Buhrman, prof. Bo Melin and associate prof. Armita Golkar.
The Rüch lab is certain that there is yet much to come from the brilliant mind of doctor Oskar Flygare!
Rücklab - Psychiatry research at Karolinska Institutet 