Depression and Anxiety Trial, Not Yet Recruiting
voxsanity.com.au · Eligibility summary from public government registries · 18 August 2026 · not medical advice
Who may and may not be able to join
AI generated eligibility summary. Written by an AI model from the official source data and checked on a sample basis. It can contain mistakes, so confirm anything important against the original source. How we use AI
Who may be able to join
- People aged 18 years or older.
- People who are able to read and speak in English.
- People who are able to understand what the study involves and can sign a written consent form.
- People who are currently experiencing a major depressive episode lasting at least 2 weeks, confirmed through a structured clinical interview and a depression questionnaire score of 10 or higher at the screening stage.
- People who were assigned female sex at birth and are premenopausal must be willing to use a form of contraception (such as condoms, the oral contraceptive pill, or another method of birth control) during the study.
- People who are able to lie flat on their back for 2 hours inside a sauna device.
- People who have access to the internet through a computer, smartphone, or tablet.
Who may not be able to join
Each point below is a reason the trial team may not be able to accept someone. It is not a list of requirements to meet.
- People whose depression questionnaire score improves by more than 30% between the first and second screening appointments (approximately one week apart).
- People who have made a suicide attempt in the past 12 months, or who are currently experiencing active thoughts of suicide, as identified during a clinician-administered interview.
- People who have certain medical conditions, including heart disease (other than well-controlled high blood pressure), seizure disorders, history of stroke or other serious neurological conditions (such as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, or dementia), active cancer, any active enclosed infection (such as a dental abscess or joint infection), hemophilia or other conditions that cause excessive bleeding, or any other medical condition that the study investigators believe may increase the risk of whole-body heat treatment (confirm with trial site).
- People who have, or have a history of, certain other mental health conditions that may better explain their depression, including schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, Bipolar Disorder I, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, or dependence on alcohol or drugs.
- People who are known to have a sensitivity or adverse reaction to heat or infrared light exposure.
- People who are unable to fit inside the sauna device used in the study.
- People who have breast implants.
- People who are pregnant, currently breastfeeding, or planning to become pregnant during the study period.
- People who are taking certain medications that may affect the body's ability to regulate temperature, including diuretics, barbiturates, beta-blockers, antipsychotic medications, anticholinergic medications, antihistamines used regularly, aspirin (other than low-dose aspirin taken for preventive purposes), antidepressant medications (including SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, tricyclics, and atypical antidepressants — participants must have stopped these medications at least 4 weeks before joining), antibiotics taken within the past 14 days, opioid pain medication taken within the past 14 days following a procedure, emergency contraception taken within the past 14 days, or any other medication the study investigators judge would increase risk or interfere with study results (confirm with trial site).
- People who have recently taken multiple consecutive doses of anti-inflammatory medications (such as ibuprofen or naproxen), systemic corticosteroids, or cytokine antagonists.
- People who regularly use any nicotine products, including cigarettes, vapes, chewing tobacco, or other forms of nicotine (people who do not use nicotine regularly must be willing to avoid it for 24 hours before and after the heat treatment session).
- People who are unwilling to avoid marijuana and alcohol for 24 hours before and after the heat treatment session.
- People who are unwilling to avoid heavy exercise on the day of heat treatment sessions.
- People who are unwilling to avoid saunas, hot yoga, cold plunges, cryotherapy, and hot tubs or jacuzzis outside of the study, and who have used any of these in the 30 days before their first study visit.
- People who have started a new course of psychotherapy within the past 6 weeks.
Important: Always verify eligibility with the trial site directly before applying.
Based on publicly available eligibility criteria from ClinicalTrials.gov. Verify directly with the trial site before acting. This is not medical advice.
If you need support right now
This page includes language about suicide and self-harm, because that is how the trial's eligibility criteria are written. If reading it has been hard, you do not have to keep going. The services below are free, confidential, and answered by people trained for exactly this.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 000.
- Lifeline — 24/7 crisis support: 13 11 14
- Suicide Call Back Service — 24/7 counselling: 1300 659 467
- 13YARN — 24/7, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: 13 92 76
- Beyond Blue — 24/7 mental health support: 1300 22 4636
- Emergency: 000
Outside Australia? The numbers above are Australian and will not work from overseas. Find a Helpline is a free directory of crisis lines in over 130 countries, run by ThroughLine with the International Association for Suicide Prevention. If you are in immediate danger, call your local emergency number.
Voxsanity is not a crisis service, and nothing on this page is medical advice. More Australian services are listed on our support lines page.
Contact this trial
Principal Investigator: Ashley E Mason, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Phone: 415 516820
Contact details sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. Verify directly with the trial site before attending.
GP referral letter
Print a one-page summary to share with your doctor.
Trial details
Where this trial is recruiting
Primary endpoints
Retention; CBT Intervention Fidelity; WBH Intervention Fidelity; Study Assessment Completion
Can't join this trial?
Data last synced from ClinicalTrials.gov: 27 July 2026. Trial status can change. Always verify current status directly with the trial site before making any decision.