Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was first developed in 1985 when physicist Anthony Barker introduced TMS technology to the world of neuropsychology. Based on the premise established over a hundred years prior by Michael Faraday that magnetic fields have an impact on electricity and plasma, TMS technology has been researched for several decades, and has been…
Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation may invoke some scary thoughts and images, yet a name is just a name – and despite the words ‘deep transcranial’, dTMS is entirely non-invasive, pain-free, and requires no sedation or medication. Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation uses a head-worn device with an electromagnetic coil shaped a certain way. This coil sends…
Depression – It’s more than just being sad By, Jennifer Boisture, MD “I’m depressed.” Not surprisingly, as a psychiatrist, I hear this a lot from my patients. If I’m meeting a patient for the first time, almost invariably, I respond by asking, “What do you mean when you say ‘depressed’?” This partly because people so…
Pets and humans have spent several millennia together, and there’s plenty of evidence that we’ve domesticated animals long before we even began keeping a written history of the human race. Yet we tamed and bred animals for more than just hunting and livestock. Since time immemorial, we’ve considered plenty of animals as friends, partners, and…
First line treatment for depression involves talk therapy and antidepressant medication. Millions of Americans who struggle with depressive symptoms are prescribed antidepressant pills every year, and their effectiveness in part explains why they’re utilized so often in the treatment of depression. But antidepressants neither cure depression, nor do they affect everyone equally. Firstly, there is…
Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a treatment option for patients with major depressive disorder and other mental health conditions. While still less-known than other more conventional methods for treating depression, TMS has grown rapidly in the public eye, through the efforts of dozens of TMS clinics throughout the country and the work of many doctors and…
The first line treatment for major depressive disorder includes the use of antidepressants and talk therapy, typically making use of SSRIs and a form of behavioral therapy like CBT. However, there is a lot more that can be done to combat the symptoms of depression. Medication and proper treatment (through either medication, therapy, or TMS)…
Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a treatment method for depression developed to help patients who do not respond to first line treatment. Rough estimates suggest that up to a third of people with depressive symptoms remain symptomatic despite the use of pharmacological treatment and therapy. This is a serious problem. As the leading cause of disability…
An estimated 16.1 million adults in the US struggle with depression, while an estimated 322 million people across the world have depressive symptoms. As a mental health disorder, depression comes in many different forms and with different levels of severity. Severe depressive symptoms include self-harm and suicidal ideation, as well as suicide attempts. Mild symptoms…
In modern day psychiatry, there is a treatment method for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder that relies on magnets. One might say it’s a brave new world, yet transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) machines are based on research and experimentation decades old. Yet instead of using electricity, TMS machines use magnetic waves to subtly affect certain brain…