Depression is a severe mental health issue that affects both men and women of all ages. It can affect anyone at any point in their lives. Currently, depression is among the top five prevailing diseases in the U.S. Depression is not always preventable like many other health issues, and most of the times patients are not even able to identify their depression symptoms that can lead to treatment complications and serious life risk (suicidal thoughts or suicidal attempt). Depression has become the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S. According to the statistics, more than 45,000 people die each year because of untreated depression.
Although it is a prevalent disease, depression is still considered to be a taboo and a weakness. There are still not many treatments available that can be regarded as 100% effective for treating the symptoms of depression in the long run. Most depression patients can only suppress their symptoms with on-going depression medications and psychological therapies because most of the commonly available treatments do not give a 100% relief to most of the depression patients.
With time, more research is being done to determine other effective treatments for depression. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a newer depression therapy that is now being considered as an effective depression treatment for patients that fail to respond to other available methods of treating depression, including antidepressant courses and multiple psychological therapies.
What is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)?
TMS is a non-invasive method that uses electromagnetic induction to stimulate the portion of the brain that plays a role in mood control and control depression symptoms. During the TMS Therapy, an insulated coil is placed over the head through, the magnetic pulses generated by the coil pass through the skull to the brain without any pain or major complications. TMS is a safe therapy that does not have any major health effects during the treatment and any major side effects after the treatment. Most patients only suffer from minor symptoms like headaches and lightheadedness that subsides with time.
Can TMS Substitute Other Depression Treatments?
The effectiveness and the possibilities of treating depression with TMS therapy still has a huge question mark. Although it has shown some amazing results, and many patients have found relief from depression symptoms from the very first session. On the other hand, many patients did find relief even after several successive TMS therapy sessions, and it has even completely failed for some of the patients. Due to its questionable results, doctors are not in the position of considering TMS as a 100% successful depression treatment. However, for many patients that do not respond well to other depression treatments, TMS is a ray of hope. Many patients have had successful TMS therapy and complete relief from depression symptoms, so there is a hope that with time and experience, TMS will be considered a depression treatment with a 100% success rate.
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