Depression

Why study depression?

Major depression affects close to 2,000,000 Canadians annually and is the leading cause of time lost from work, more than cancer or heart disease. Depression is a risk factor for suicide, which in responsible for more than 3500 deaths annually in Canada. 

Depression can affect anyone, regardless of their age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Many depression treatments exist, but there are no specific ways to match a treatment—medication, psychotherapy, or other treatment—to a person except through trial and error. As a result, it can be a long and difficult process to find the treatment for the right patient. 

CAN-BIND: The Canadian Biomarker Integration Network in Depression

  • The Canadian Biomarker Integration Network in Depression (CAN-BIND) is a national program of research and learning. The CAN-BIND community includes persons with lived experience, caregivers, researchers, healthcare providers, government agencies, industry partners, and mental health advocates who are working together to achieve mental wellness for all Canadians. CAN-BIND is discovering ways to identify the right treatment for the right person in order to help individuals with depression get well quickly, and stay well.

    CAN-BIND’s mission is to deliver fast and effective care to all Canadians living with depression. Through collaboration, research innovation and systems-oriented thinking, we seek to discover treatment strategies guided by each individual’s comprehensive history and pathway to depression.

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  • CAN-BIND: The Canadian Biomarker Integration Network in Depression

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The Impact of Our Work

Understanding response to various types of depression treatments is crucial to identifying the right treatment for the right patient. This is why CAN-BIND also supports research on non-pharmacological treatments for depression like brain stimulation and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique approved as a treatment for major depression. It involves stimulating specific areas of the brain with magnetic field pulses. When applied repeatedly, these pulses can strengthen or weaken the connections between neurons, known as synapses. The long-lasting changes in neural connections can achieve lasting changes in brain activity, reversing the abnormal patterns associated with depression. A new CAN-BIND study is looking at another version of a brain stimulation treatment that can be delivered in short, three-minute bursts. If this type of treatment also proves effective at treating depression for some individuals, it would reduce side effects and treatment time and increase treatment capacity.