Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

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Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

AN ADVANCED TREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION BY DR. JAMIE ROGERS

Spring has arrived! The sun is shining, the weather is warm, the trees and flowers are blooming, and the birds are chirping merrily. We are finally able to move about freely after two years of claustrophobic COVID-19 conditions.

Many people are indeed experiencing the joys of spring, while others are wandering and wondering why they could care less about spring—or for that matter – why they don’t care about much of anything.

People with depression don’t see the vibrancy of spring colors, feel the sunshine on their face and the birds’ sounds are shrieks, not songs. Depressed individuals often can barely crawl out of bed. If they manage to get going, they walk around a shell of themselves – perhaps faking a smile, pretending to be happy, going through the motions of the day to day; all the while, the emptiness of depression fills the space where their life used to exist. Other people with depression simply can’t fake it and withdraw into the shadows of their existence. Often with no apparent rhyme or reason, people experience a depressed mood, characterized by mental health professionals as a loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities, problems with sleep, eating, energy, concentration, or self-worth. Prior to the pandemic, an estimated 20% of all adults experienced symptoms of a major depressive disorder. During and post-COVID pandemic, as many as 40-

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We specialize in treating depression with the most advanced FDA-approved treatment, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. 60% of all adults have depression symptoms. Depression has often been tragically misunderstood as character flaw with the adage “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” being the prime rhetorical treatment. I dare say that people who experience deTMS therapy is hope for long-term relief and remission from the life-robbing symptoms of depression. www.truenorthimh.com pressive symptoms would exclaim, “If I could do that, if it were that easy, I would have done it already!” Depression is an electrochemical brain problem. Electricity is the currency of the brain, and depres102 Oakmont Drive, Greenville, NC 27858 sion is equivalent to an electrical short circuit where current flows down an unintended path or a simple circuit break where electricity simply ceases to flow, though, in the case of the depression, the circuit break is protective. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive treatment for depression that directly effects the electrical circuits in our brain. The physics of TMS has been understood since the 1980s as an unimpeded passing of electrical currents through the scalp that, when it encounters neurons, causes depolarization that leads to an action potential. TMS, a neurostimulation therapy, but should not be confused with the first neurostimulation therapy - Electro Convulsant Therapy (ECT). TMS does not require anesthesia, does not evoke seizure activity, and has no cognitive or memory problems associated. TMS is offered when depressive symptoms are characterized as recurrent, severe and have not responded to medication and/or

therapy

TMS has been an FDA approved treatment for Major Depression since 2008. TMS has many advantages over ECT, psychotherapy/counseling and medication therapy including: • No systemic side-effects • People are more compliant with TMS treatments • No anesthesia • Noninvasive • No drug interactions • Higher rates of remission

TMS causes a change in neurotransmission when applied to the Dorso Lateral Prefrontal Cortex (right side of the head roughly 1-2 inches above temple region). This area is targeted because it is the gateway for many brain functions affected by depression. • Psychomotor—get up and go • Cognitive—concentration/attention, memory • Emotional—sadness, lack of pleasure, anxiety • Neurovegetative—appetite, fatigue, and sleep

TMS is an outpatient treatment. Treatments work best if received five days a week for 26-30 sessions. The treatment session is only 20-30 minutes/day. People who experience TMS treatments typically have little or no side-effects and can carry on with their day, including returning to work. Most people start to show improvements around treatments 11 through 15.

Through TMS treatment, people feel a lift in their mood as symptoms gradually start to decline over time, leading to an improved quality of life. As many as 70% of patients treated receive greater than a 50% reduction in symptoms. Approximately 60% of patients achieve complete remission. While TMS is not a permanent cure for depression, most patients can expect to feel significant relief for up to 12 months.

A lot of people experience some benefit within the first two weeks, but some people do not experience results until weeks four to six. Over the course of the treatment sessions, most people will feel a lift in their mood as symptoms begin to decline and, in some cases, disappear completely. Nearly 75% of TMS recipients report that their quality of life is greatly improved because of the treatment.

TMS has many other uses that have not been approved by the FDA to date. Most are in the process. These uses include: • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) • Stroke rehabilitation • Schizophrenia • Parkinson’s disease • Alzheimer’s disease • Chronic pain • Nicotine addiction • Autism

TMS is approved for obsessive compulsive disorder but is not currently being paid for by insurance.

Dr. Jamie Rogers is the owner of True North Integrated Mental Health and S.M.E.G. Family Mental Health. She has 30 years of experience working with children, adolescents, adults, and families in the area of mental health. Rogers grew up in Robersonville and decided to move back to her home community after living in Chapel Hill for 25 years.

She is a therapist, prescribes psychotropic medications, is a functional medicine practitioner and provides TMS treatments in her practice. Rogers earned four degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: bachelor’s of science in nursing, master’s of nursing science in psychiatric-mental health nursing (nurse therapist), and master’s of nursing science in psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner and a doctorate in nursing science with a concentration in maternalinfant mental health. She completed a post Health sponsored by Harvard University, University of Massachusetts and Boston Children’s Hospital.