What is TMS and How Does it Work? A Deep Dive into Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation for Mental Health
As mental health research advances, more treatments become available all the time. Therapists hone the resources and modalities they can use to help their patients. New medications come onto the scene, too.
One of the more exciting advancements in mental health treatment isn’t a type of therapy or a new drug, though. It’s a sophisticated technology that allows your care provider to potentially change the way your brain works. It’s called transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS.
TMS 101
During TMS therapy, you wear a coil around your head. That coil allows your provider — in our case, board-certified psychiatrist John Reitano, MD — to send controlled magnetic fields around and into your head.
TMS uses the same non-invasive, painless technology leveraged for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. It’s not necessarily new, either. It was first developed in 1985. But it has been getting more and more attention because the FDA has now approved it for:
Major depressive disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Anxiety disorders paired with (i.e., comorbid with) depression
Smoking cessation
Migraines
Researchers continue to look into other use cases, too, including treatment for people with epilepsy.
How Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Works in the Brain
During TMS therapy, Dr. Reitano uses the coil to send magnetic pulses into your brain. This magnetic energy interacts with your brain cells by impacting the tiny electrical pulses they use to convey information. In short, TMS allows Dr. Reitano to make specific changes to the electrical activity in the neurons of your brain.
The changes he uses TMS to create hinge on what your brain needs. The magnetic pulses are different for a person with OCD, for example, than someone with depression. For people with depression, TMS can help to encourage underactive neurons to fire, ideally breaking the brain patterns causing the depressive symptoms.
All of this happens without the need for any injections or incisions. TMS is a completely non-invasive, drug-free treatment option.
What to Expect with TMS therapy
If you’re curious about trying TMS therapy, meet with our team. The process starts with an assessment to see if this kind of mental health treatment is right for you.
If it is, the next step is usually an fMRI scan of your brain. This allows Dr. Reitano to map where the magnetic pulses will be directed based on your specific needs.
Once you start TMS therapy, you come to our office about five days a week. Each therapy session is short (30 minutes or less), so you can use your lunch break, pop in after work, or find another time to work it into your day. A standard course of TMS therapy is 36 sessions, although Dr. Reitano tailors his recommendation to you.
There’s no downtime with TMS. You can continue straight onto the next activity in your day after your appointment.
To explore if this non-invasive mental health treatment could be right for you, schedule an appointment with our team today.
