The usual treatment regimes for mental illness are evolving, and for treatment-resistant depression, treatment regimes like antidepressant medication or talk therapy are hardly adequate at best. If you have been unable to tolerate or respond to any number of antidepressants, there’s so much hope now in an alternative noninvasive, non-medication treatment: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy, or TMS Therapy.
What Is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy?
Considered an alternative treatment for targeted depression areas that are less active, TMS therapy has been approved by the FDA and is non-invasive. In layman’s terms, a magnetic coupon is held over your head, from which magnetic pulses stimulate the most depressed parts of the brain, which tend to be underactive.
Unlike drugs, TMS Therapy does not travel through the bloodstream and produce systemic side effects. It therefore becomes a splendid alternative for people who cannot take antidepressants or do not respond to any of a series of antidepressants.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for Treatment-Resistant Depression
If depression is treated as treatment-resistant, then it becomes far more complicated to treat. It is where there is no improvement after being on two or more antidepressant medications at therapeutic dose for an adequate length of time (a considerable number of those suffering from major depressive disorder are in this type of state known as treatment-resistant depression, who can go on to have prolonged emotional and functional disability). Roger and I have observed TMS for treatment-resistant depression changing lives. Real world clinical experience and clinical trials are proving that TMS can dramatically reduce the symptoms of TMS patients who might otherwise have experienced no reduction in symptoms with any traditional therapies. Many patients find that their improvement in mood, energy, and concentration is truly significant within just a few weeks of beginning TMS therapy.
What makes TMS therapy so unique?
✅Drug Free: You don’t have to take another medication on a daily basis again nor manage side effects from a chemical alternative!
✅Non-Invasive: No surgery, no anesthesia, and no down time or recovery time!
✅Few Side Effects: For most patients, at the same time being effective, side effects may only be mild discomfort on the scalp or a minor headache, both of which leave quickly.
✅Proven effective: The thousands of studies that have been performed on it support it, and the FDA has approved it for depression and OCD in adults.
✅Outpatient Therapy: Treatment sessions are a fairly short 20 to 40 minutes, provided five days per week over the course of four to six weeks.
Who is eligible for undergoing TMS therapy?
Normally, TMS therapy is for:
- Patients with treatment-resistant depression
- Patients who refuse to take antidepressant drugs because of intolerable side effects or because they simply do not want to take medication.
- Patients looking for a low-risk and non-invasive alternative to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
- Any mental health provider or neurologist trained appropriately in TMS could consider TMS Therapy as one of the options in regards to their medical and treatment history.
Expectations While Having TMS Treatment
During a standard treatment session with TMS:
- You will be safely positioned in an easy chair while a trained technician, utilizes the magnetic coil, and places it above your forehead.
- The magnetic coil releases magnetic pulses every few seconds specifically directed to areas of your brain.
- You will be awake and conscious throughout the whole appointment, and be able to return to the same activities you were doing before your appointment immediately after your treatment is done.
- Most patients experience a beneficial effect within the first few weeks, but after that, the full effect typically takes a couple more weeks.
Conclusion
If you are struggling with treatment-resistant depression, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy may be the cure you have been searching for – painlessly and without the burdens of daily pills or side effects. TMS Therapy has a scientific evidence base and real-world examples of individuals freed from depression through TMS. TMS Therapy continues to offer hope for those shattered by depression and that have failed to find relief with other medications or therapies.