Mental illness is far more common than most people think, with over half of the US population likely to be diagnosed with some form in their lifetime, and 1 in 5 people experiencing symptoms annually.
Mental illnesses like depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety are conditions commonly treated with therapy and sometimes combined with medications. But, when those methods aren’t effective, other treatments, like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) therapy are a viable solution to not just relieve symptoms but to stabilize and improve your mood. Let’s explore the factors that separate this treatment from the others, and how effective it is in treating the various conditions mentioned above.
If you’re dealing with depression or another mental illness, there is help available. The experienced team at Vital TMS Therapy specialize in this treatment method and our shared goal is not just to give you relief but to offer you remission from whatever condition affects you.
What separates TMS therapy from other treatments?
This drug-free, non-invasive treatment is designed to stimulate nerve cells to improve function in different areas of the brain for a variety of conditions, using repetitive magnetic pulses.
A device is placed on your head with a magnetic coil and pulses painlessly pass through your head, targeting areas of your brain that your specific condition needs for treatment. The magnetic fields activate the brain cells and restore brain activity to a normal function level, lessening or eliminating symptoms. TMS therapy is a safe, painless treatment for depression and certain other conditions.
How well does it work?
To better understand how well this treatment works, we need to break it down by the specific condition:
Depression
Several sources show the effectiveness of TMS therapy, with remission rates as high as 70.6%, showing a great deal of improvement in patients that had the treatment over other methods.
Anxiety
Studies such as the one in 2015 showed impressive results, with 84.6% of patients in remission of anxiety symptoms and 76.9% of patients showing improvement in depression symptoms.
OCD
Several studies show TMS therapy providing relief from symptoms of OCD, including sustained improvement in brain activity even after a three-month follow-up post-procedure. Another study shows that 60.3% of patients showed some improvement (20% decrease in symptoms), and 47.1% showed even better results (30% decrease).
PTSD
There’s a lot of positive data for people with PTSD, with this study showing a remission of 39% of veterans treated for depression related to the condition, and another study showing a decrease of symptoms in right- and left-sided treatments.
Overall, medical studies show improvement in patients using this treatment where other methods fail. If you’re dealing with any of these conditions and other treatments are not helping, make an appointment with Vital TMS Therapy today to get on the road to recovery.
