Scottsdale, Arizona – Almost every study shows that teen depression continues to increase. Now the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is giving families another tool to combat serious depression.
The new tool is not a drug, but a device that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate the brain.
By numbers:
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 20.1% of American youth have experienced at least one episode of major depression. At the same time, it is estimated that only 40.6% of them have received treatment.
What we know:
The treatment process begins with a cap specially made for each patient.
“The treatment is very targeted, so you can see this point F3. So this is measured in XY coordinates, which shows exactly where to place the paddle,” says Juliane Popelka of American TMS Clinics.
Popelka prepared patients for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) at the American TMS Clinics in Scottsdale.
“We line up that bullseye with the target area and then we go,” Juliane said.
Magnetic pulses stimulate parts of the brain to produce clicking sounds.
Regional Perspective:
“It gives me a very calming feeling,” Margaret Wilson said.
Wilson tried every anti-depressant medication he could think of. She said everything changed after trying TMS, an FDA-approved treatment.
“One day I just laughed. He said something funny, so normally… but today I started laughing and I was like, ‘Wait a minute, you’re laughing. Oh my God.’ It made me cry,” Wilson said.
Adults have been using this non-traditional treatment for many years, but now the FDA has approved TMS for children as young as 15 years old.
For many people, this means their insurance covers it, which is important because the cost of at least 36 treatments can add up.
What they say:
“For teenagers who are in desperate need of treatment, who have tried everything, whose parents have tried everything, there is finally hope and it won’t cost them a second mortgage,” Popelka said.
Dr. Houshang Aminian added, “Once it’s approved by the FDA, people feel some relief, feeling that this treatment has been researched and researched.”
Learn more:
The most common side effect is headache. Often they choose TMS after treatment and say the drug is not effective.
“It changed my life,” Wilson said.
Now that Wilson knows it’s FDA-approved for teenagers, she wishes it had happened sooner. Her symptoms began when she was 15 years old.
“It would have changed things and helped me turn my life around,” she said.
source: This information is provided by the technicians and physicians at American TMS Clinics.
