Doctor Explains an Unusual Depression Treatment

Watch me use a magnet to switch off the speaking parts of my brain. Hello, my name is J and I can’t speak very well. That’s a very cool party trick, but this tech is so much more than that as it’s opened up a whole new treatment option for people with difficult to manage depression. It’s called transcranial magnetic stimulation and it has the ability to reset problem areas of the brain, particularly in those who have tried two or more medications for depression and have still notice no effect. Some people who’ve had this have described it as giving the world color again as around a half of those who have it have a positive response and around a third can go into complete remission after just a few treatments. But as we know, everything with effects has the potential for side effects and those can include headache, some skin irritation. More rarely, it can cause manic episodes in people with bipolar disorder and very rarely a seizure. So, if you or someone you know is finding that multiple medications are not helping their depression, then this might be one to bring up with a

Sources – drjacobthorstensen on TT

PMID 37501135

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive treatment that can be particularly helpful for people with treatment-resistant depression—those who have not responded well to medication or therapy. It works by using magnetic fields to stimulate specific areas of the brain involved in mood regulation, helping to restore normal activity patterns. TMS most commonly targets the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a region that tends to be underactive in depression. Stimulating this area can improve communication within mood-related networks of the brain, including connections to the limbic system, which governs emotional processing. In some cases, the right DLPFC may be targeted to reduce overactivity associated with negative emotional bias. Over several sessions, this controlled stimulation can lead to improved mood, energy, and cognitive function, offering new hope for patients who haven’t found relief through traditional antidepressant treatments. #mentalhealth #depression #anxiety

44 Comments

  1. As a scientist that previously worked with a very poorly shielded old NMR machine, I'm seriously surprised. I obviously don't know from this video how the strength of this magnet compares to the field I experienced on a daily basis, or to what people get when getting an MRI, but I never felt a thing, and those magnets are not nothing I'll tell you that. How is this possible from a hand-held device?!

  2. You think it could also help with tinnitus? Given that some papers postulate that tinnitus is caused by the brain over-amplifying signals coming from the ears?

  3. Same vibes as lobotomies or electroshock therapy, seems all fine now until a decade or so later and papers show that people have been irreversibly damaged by it.

  4. I took part in this as a patient while it was still regarded as experimental at the hospital I went to. No real negative side effects apart from the anesthesiologist missing some notes about a poor reaction to some of the drugs used in the past which led to an epileptic seizure in combination with the shocks, once the drugs were switched out it went swimmingly. Seizures suck by the way, felt like I had been through the heaviest workout of my life where every muscle in my body had taken part in it once I woke up. In my case we sadly couldn't clearly discern whether positive changes were caused by it or by changes in my life situation that happened to to coincide with the treatment. Oh and on another note, it managed to either change the smell of my sweat or the way I perceived it, I'm betting on the latter as the area targeted would have been near my olfactory lobes, with that effect lasting multiple months.

  5. Doctors in the US would rather get kickbacks with SSRIs than do experimental options or even put your name on the list. I have two sisters that have vented many times about this and how it's difficult to actually help patients.

  6. rTMS has been a big topic of discussion for those (like myself) with visual snow syndrome, which sucks immensely to live with. In the US, this treatment option is largely limited by insurance companies. It is "experimental" and lacks studies in my patient population since insurance / FDA will not cover treatment or organize studies and funding. its a paradox. We cant get better if nobody is willing to help.

  7. This saved my life! TMS is incredible; I went 2-3 times a week for 2 years! I had a major brain injury at 18 and this helped me with many, many different issues. So thankful to have found a doctor who provided/recommended this treatment. This tech needs to be more widely available for people, and insurance needs to cover more uses for it!

  8. I was one of those that multiple medications didn't help. Finally got around to doing more bloodwork than was usually ordered via lab Corp on demand. Basically picked out everything myself and paid out of pocket. I was in my early 40's at the time so I threw in hormone bloodwork. Turns out it was all hormone issues. All my depression symptoms along with everything else came from that. Barely detectable free testosterone, 29.2ng/dl total testosterone and my estradiol was lower than the testing threshold. That's what was causing all my joint pain. I was told since they couldn't find anything wrong with my joints before it was apart of my depression. Basically all in my head. Primary hypogonadism was the root cause of all my problems. Next month will be a year on testosterone replacement therapy. Three months after I started it I was able to taper off antidepressants. I have my life back. Please check ALL your bloodwork if you're physically or mentally ill. Even bloodwork your doctor didn't think you needed checked.

  9. It doesn’t do anything. It’s also very painful. Mental illness is much more poorly understood than medical professionals like this lead people to believe.

  10. I read a study that it makes people less likely to believe in religion, and the tech induces an electrical currents which causes tiny seizures. The idea that is causes a "tiny reset" is a lie. The people performing these treatments won't discuss any of the side effects, and want to push it because it's very expensive (insurance) and you need a lot of treatments in a short period of time.

  11. This is so funny. I had TMS and though I had no positive effects from it, neither I or anyone else on the ward had any negative effects either. and it didn't affect your ability to speak because the magnet was pointing at a different spot. I was allowed to chat on the phone with it up to my ear only a couple inches from the magnet, though as you can hear in the video the clicking is very loud.

  12. I so want to try this because I have very treatment resistant depression after trying CBT twice, talk therapy once, and being on SSRIs for almost a decade but I know exactly what my doctors response would be; “we’ll give you a referral for CBT (we already know it doesn’t work but quite frankly you’d be cheaper and less trouble if we could prescribe a noose)”

  13. TMS is one of the very few treatments that have worked for me. Sadly it's expensive and my insurance won't cover it anymore, despite it being the only thing that works for me that doesn't totally wreck a day or two a week for me.

  14. Side effects? I had absolutely zero.
    Taking a full course of 35 'zap sessions', as I nicknamed them, there was some alleviation of my depression symptoms after about 9 sessions. It continued to improve through the course, gradually lifting a huge suicidal weight of utter blackness from my view of myself.
    This wasn't permanent, but I've never gone back down as deeply depressed as I was before my TMS treatment. It may have actually saved my life.

  15. I made a rap about depression it’s called “depression we hate you” here it is

    DEPRESSION WE HATE YOU

    Im sorry….im sorry for everyone who don’t have a choice, a voice…Im sorry for people who don’t have joys. Don’t worry it’ll get better because it’s only a matter of time before everyone realizes they sorry and maybe will write you a letter. It’s going be alright just give it some time, we in this together, we in this forever, we in this for life. I love you we all do. Just remember that before something happens that you don’t want to. It’s okay just rest go to sleep because when you wake up it could all just be a dream. Depression we hate you, we all disgrace you even when you not around us but we can beat you. Do you think there’s no defeating you? Because that’s were your wrong together we strong we and when life is good it means that it is long. Days cut out and weekends get thin with you in the world can you get tossed in the bin? Depression we hate you. DEPRESSION we hate you. DEPRESSION WE hate you. DEPRESSION WE HATE you. DEPRESSION WE HATE YOU! I WILL NOT DEBATE THIS PEOPLES HEARTS ARE OUT BREAKING JUST BECAUSE YOU WANNA HAVE FUN? I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT! DEPRESSION YOU HAVE A HAND SO LIFT IT, IM SICK OF THIS CRAP OUR LIVES ARE LEAVING THE CHAT BECAUSE OF YOU….we can make things better…..we can do this together…..some have had it in their lives for a very long time…it sucks i know it does but im sorry that depression is such a big boss…it doesn’t have to be….it’s apart of us not all of us….we control it if we want to…I know it’s hard but it’s the only thing you can do….just please don’t end it…we all love you everyday so please don’t go because after all yolo.