Depression can be a lifelong struggle for some people. Without effective treatment, the symptoms can be overwhelming, making each day an uphill battle. Fortunately, treatment choices for depression have improved dramatically over the past few decades. There are now prescription medications that have been demonstrated to be effective and are reasonably well tolerated. As an added bonus, several of these anti-depressant medications have become widely available in generic versions making them more affordable to patients. When these medications are combined with psychological counseling a majority of depressed patients are able to deal with their daily symptoms of depression.
Symptoms of Depression: Why Some People Fail to Respond to Treatment
Unfortunately, a significant number of depressed individuals fail to respond to any of the available oral medications even when combined with intensive psychological counseling. Some depressed patients have symptoms so severe that none of the current treatment options provide help for their feelings of hopelessness and despair. Other depressed patients may not be able to tolerate existing treatments because of medication side effects. Lastly some depressed patients fail to comply with their treatment plans. They refuse to see their mental health counselors and neglect to take their prescribed medications on a regular basis.
A New Treatment for Depression
A new treatment option has recently become available for difficult to treat patients. It involves applying a magnet temporarily to the surface of the head, specifically over the portion of the head thought to be responsible for depressive symptoms. When the magnet is turned on, it alters the electrical currents in the emotion center of brain (the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) which helps to reduce the symptoms of depression. Treatment with the recently FDA approved transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) system is completely different from traditional electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) because it doesn’t require patients be put to sleep nor does it require the patient to experience a seizure.
Treatment with TMS requires five sessions a week lasting four and six weeks. There is some evidence that TMS plus anti-depressant medication provides an even greater response than either treatment alone. The treatments are relatively quick and well tolerated with some individuals reporting temporary pain at the magnet site, muscle twitching, or eye discomfort. There have been no reports of confusion or memory impairment.
Will It Be Effective for Treatment of Depression?
Because TMS is new, no one can say how long the positive benefits will last or whether the treatment will need to be repeated. TMS does not seem as effective as electroconvulsive therapy; however, it also does not have the stigma associated with ECT or the obvious inconveniences. Since it has only recently been medically approved it is quite expensive and not widely available. Hopefully these problems will improve as doctors become more familiar with the technology.
References:
Human Psychopharmacology. Clinical and Experimental Volume 10, Issue 4. Pages 305-310
