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Innovations in the Treatment for Depression and Anxiety—2nd Edition
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Innovations in the Treatment for Depression and Anxiety—2nd Edition

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2026 | Viewed by 721

Editor

Dr. Lucie Bartova

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Interests: psychopharmacotherapy; antidepressant agents; affective disorders; depression; anxiety; major depressive disorder; treatment-resistant depression; long COVID; ME/CFS (myalgic mncephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to invite you to contribute to our upcoming Special Issue, entitled “Innovations in the Treatment for Depression and Anxiety—2nd Edition”. In the first volume, we published eight high-quality papers. For more details, please visit https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jcm/special_issues/40TUQ51966.

We are seeking to replicate the success of the first addition and collate research that addresses some of the most exciting and pressing challenges in the management of these widespread mental health conditions.

Depression and anxiety continue to impose significant burdens on individuals and families, as well as healthcare and socioeconomic systems worldwide. Despite advances in understanding their underlying mechanisms, clinical manifestations, and treatments, insufficient symptom relief and the need for more personalized and accessible care remain critical issues. This Special Issue aims to explore novel approaches and interdisciplinary strategies that hold promise for overcoming these barriers.

We welcome submissions covering a broad range of topics, including advancements in pharmacological treatments, neuromodulation techniques, chronobiological, digital and telehealth interventions, psychotherapeutic innovations, and integrated care models. Studies investigating biomarkers, neurobiological underpinnings, and precision medicine approaches are also highly encouraged. Research focusing on underserved populations, comorbidities, and scalable treatment options will provide valuable insights for real-world applications.

This Special Issue aims to foster collaboration among researchers and clinicians, driving the translation of emerging findings into practical treatments that will improve patient outcomes.

We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions and the opportunity to advance the future of brain health together.

Dr. Lucie Bartova
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • depression
  • anxiety
  • antidepressant
  • anxiolytic
  • psychopharmacotherapy
  • psychotherapy
  • brain stimulation
  • treatment
  • response
  • resistance

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 334 KB  
Article
Longitudinal Changes in Maternal Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms Following COVID-19 During Pregnancy: A Cohort Study from Slovakia
by Cecilia Holikova, Adriana Goldbergerova, Miroslav Borovsky, Lubomira Izakova, Jan Mikas, Jana Namesna, Zuzana Kristufkova, Michal Illovsky and Alexandra Kristufkova
J. Clin. Med. 2026, 15(10), 3931; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15103931 - 20 May 2026
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Abstract
Background/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about maternal mental health, particularly among women infected during pregnancy. This study aimed to examine longitudinal changes in depressive and anxiety symptoms and subjective distress among pregnant women in Slovakia with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about maternal mental health, particularly among women infected during pregnancy. This study aimed to examine longitudinal changes in depressive and anxiety symptoms and subjective distress among pregnant women in Slovakia with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and to explore the role of obstetric complications and vaccination status in these trajectories. Methods: In this retrospective longitudinal study, women with SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy were assessed at three time points: during infection, six weeks postpartum, and one year postpartum (11 March 2020–5 May 2023). Depressive symptoms were measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; cut-off ≥ 11), anxiety symptoms were measured using the EPDS-3A subscale (cut-off ≥ 5), and subjective distress was measured using visual analogue scales (VAS). A repeated-measures ANCOVA design was used to evaluate within-subject changes over time while adjusting for vaccination status and pregnancy complications. Results: Of 1184 contacted women, 170 provided complete data. The proportion of women exceeding the EPDS cut-off decreased from 27.6% during infection to 17.6% at six weeks postpartum and 4.7% at one year postpartum. Anxiety symptoms showed a similar pattern, declining from 27.6% during infection to 20.6% at six weeks postpartum and 7.6% at one year postpartum. Repeated-measures analyses confirmed significant time effects across psychological outcomes, with symptom levels decreasing over the postpartum year. Post-infection obstetric complications were associated with higher subjective distress at selected time points. Conclusions: Psychological symptoms were highest during the acute infection period and declined significantly over time. These findings support the importance of timely mental health screening during pregnancy affected by COVID-19, while suggesting that, in many women, psychological distress may decrease across the postpartum year. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in the Treatment for Depression and Anxiety—2nd Edition)
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Review

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37 pages, 1063 KB  
Review
Mechanistic Non-Response After Psychotherapy for Anxiety Disorders: A Maintenance-Mechanism-Based Clinical Taxonomy
by Dawid Sasin, Bernard Rybczynski, Bartosz W. Maj, Joanna Chwaszcz, Michal Pruc, Iwona Niewiadomska and Lukasz Szarpak
J. Clin. Med. 2026, 15(11), 4223; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15114223 - 29 May 2026
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Abstract
Anxiety disorders are disabling and treated with cognitive-behavioral or exposure-based psychotherapy. However, many patients remain symptomatic, fail to remit, relapse, or discontinue treatment. This narrative review examined whether psychotherapy non-response, defined here as persistent clinically significant anxiety symptoms, avoidance, or functional impairment after [...] Read more.
Anxiety disorders are disabling and treated with cognitive-behavioral or exposure-based psychotherapy. However, many patients remain symptomatic, fail to remit, relapse, or discontinue treatment. This narrative review examined whether psychotherapy non-response, defined here as persistent clinically significant anxiety symptoms, avoidance, or functional impairment after an apparently adequate psychotherapy trial, may reflect mismatch between therapeutic mechanisms and the dominant processes maintaining anxiety, and aimed to develop a usable taxonomy of mechanistic non-response. This structured narrative review followed SANRA principles. PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched for peer-reviewed literature published from 1 January 2000 to 30 April 2026, including selected earlier landmark studies. Clinical, experimental, neurobiological, psychophysiological, process, and theoretical evidence were synthesized narratively. Psychotherapy mechanisms were organized around inhibitory learning, cognitive reappraisal, attentional modulation, emotion regulation, avoidance reversal, and interpersonal learning. Anxiety maintenance was multilevel, involving threat neurocircuitry, stress-related learning conditions, intolerance of uncertainty, attentional threat capture, safety behaviors, avoidance reinforcement, developmental adversity, and attachment insecurity. Non-response was framed as mismatch between the dominant maintaining process and the therapeutic mechanism expected to modify it. Six failure modes were identified: impaired inhibitory learning, cognitive rigidity/intolerance of uncertainty, stress-related learning impairment, attentional dysregulation, attachment-related barriers, and chronic avoidance dominance. Psychotherapy non-response in adult anxiety disorders should prompt mechanistic reformulation rather than repetition of the same intervention or labeling as treatment resistance. The taxonomy links recognizable failure signatures to mechanism-matched adaptations: redesigned exposure, uncertainty-focused work, attentional interventions, sequencing when arousal or sleep impairs learning, relational repair, and reduction in avoidance contingencies. The narrative review provides a concise clinical taxonomy and practical mechanism-matched adaptations to guide reformulation and treatment redesign after psychotherapy non-response in routine care. The taxonomy supports mechanism-matched reformulation after psychotherapy non-response and requires prospective validation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in the Treatment for Depression and Anxiety—2nd Edition)
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