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Transcranial magnetic stimulation, often referred to simply as TMS, is a noninvasive treatment for many mental health disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and more.
At 2nd Chance Treatment Center, with practice locations in Phoenix and Litchfield Park, Arizona, our team of board-certified psychiatrists provides transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treatments for patients with such conditions who haven’t responded to, or who are intolerant of, medications. Here’s why TMS can work even when conventional treatments have failed.
Medications for mental health
The first line of treatment for most mental health conditions is typically medication, such as antidepressants, and psychotherapy (talk therapy.) However, medications don’t work for everyone.
Some people just don’t respond, even after years of switching from medication to medication trying to find the right fit. And some people can’t tolerate the side effects of medications prescribed for their condition.
This can be incredibly frustrating and keep people with mental illness from getting the help they need. Thankfully, there’s an option that steps back from medication and directly targets areas of the brain that are causing the condition in the first place.
TMS for mental health
Medicating mental health conditions typically does more to treat symptoms than the actual condition. Medications can hopefully ease anxiety, alter moods, and try to change brain chemistry. But what happens when prescription after prescription fails?
Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a therapy that goes right to the source of your mental health problem. Tiny, rapid magnetic pulses pass through your skull and help rewire and rebalance specific nerve clusters in your brain, normalizing your brain patterns and, building on that, your thoughts, emotions, and actions.
TMS increases neuronal plasticity, which is extremely helpful if your mental illness has encouraged your brain to create faulty or harmful pathways that keep reinforcing your condition and your reactions to external and internal stimuli.
How TMS works
Your provider at 2nd Chance Treatment Center positions a circular wire coil on your head over the targeted area of your brain. Small amounts of electricity sent through the coil create a magnetic field that can be adjusted for pulse speed and depth of penetration.
Rapid pulses have been shown to be the most effective for managing treatment-resistant depression. These pulses stimulate underactive parts of the prefrontal cortex (a common site of dysregulation), and activate release and modulation of neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine.
TMS expectations
We tailor your plan to your condition, severity of symptoms, and overall health. Typically, we aim for treatment five days a week for four to six weeks. If results are favorable, we can provide maintenance treatments as needed.
Results usually start to appear long before the initial series of treatments is over. In one study of patients with MDD, 30% of participants started experiencing some relief from symptoms by or before their third week of TMS treatment.
To learn more and find out if TMS therapy might be right for you, call the 2nd Chance Treatment Center location near you, or make an appointment online.