Vanderbilt Clinical Trials

for Patients: - Age range: 18-65 years - Must possess English language skills sufficient for providing informed consent, completing questionnaires, and understanding instructions - If currently taking maintenance anti-depressant and/or anti-anxiety medication, must have a "stable" regimen as indexed by no medication or dosage changes within the past month - IDS score ≥18 - Currently depressed patients will be defined as: PHQ-9 score range 15 - 27 (moderately severe/severe depressive severity) - Remitted depressed patients will be defined as: number of depressive episodes must be ≥ 3 and a PHQ-9 score of < 5 (minimal depression) Blood Collection Inclusion: - At least 110 pounds - Generally healthy by self-report on day of collection (i.e., free of cold and flu symptoms on the day of collection, no infections within two weeks prior to collection, no known sickle cell disease) - Including the study draw, blood donation for clinical or research purposes within the preceding eight weeks will not exceed 550 mL - No more than one blood draw will have occurred during the preceding week

for Patients: - Prior diagnosis of bipolar I, bipolar II, psychotic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and/or narcissistic personality disorder - Current history (equal/less than 6 months) of substance abuse/dependence - Current history (equal/less than 6 months) of regular meditation practice (>1 session/week; >10 min/session) - History of medical illness associated with possible changes in cerebral tissue or cerebrovasculature (e.g., stroke) or with neurologic abnormality (e.g., seizure disorder, cerebrovascular or neoplastic lesion, neurodegenerative disorder, or significant head trauma, defined by loss of consciousness of ≥ 5 minutes) - Current suicidal ideation Exclusion Criteria for Healthy Controls: - Previous or current mental health history (depression) - Current history (equal/less than 6 months) of substance abuse/dependence - History of medical illness associated with possible changes in cerebral tissue or cerebrovasculature (e.g., stroke) or with neurologic abnormality (e.g., seizure disorder, cerebrovascular or neoplastic lesion, neurodegenerative disorder, or significant head trauma, defined by loss of consciousness of ≥ 5 minutes) - Current suicidal ideation