Content Creator - Agnas Ann Thomas and Aaditi Ajay Kapre
Content Editor - Safa Sajith
Content Illustrator - Elsa Aziz & Meagan Cassandra
At times, most of us feel depressed or sad. This reaction is common after a loss or a difficult time. Although you may feel depressed, you could have something more severe going on if intense sadness lasts for many days or even weeks and stops you from functioning normally. An individual experiencing depression has the feeling that they are trapped in their voice, without any shape or form to define them.
Depression is a chronic and serious medical condition that can negatively affect your emotions, thoughts, and behaviour. It can cause feelings of sadness and/ or a loss of interest in activities you once loved.
"I found that with depression, one of the most important things you can realize is that you're not alone. You're not the first to go through it, you're not going to be the last to go through it." — Dwayne Johnson
Depression, though persistent, is not a temporary problem. It lasts for more than two weeks during each episode; it can be several weeks, months, or even years. According to the WHO, the prevalence of depression accounts for more than 264 million people in the world.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), also known as electroshock therapy used to be a popular treatment for depression
during times when it did not respond to other methods. But the psychological impacts on cognition made it difficult for use. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the process of passing small electrical currents through the brain to cause a brief seizure. It is performed under general anaesthesia.
Certain mental health conditions can be rapidly reversed by changing brain chemistry with the help of ECT. ECT has been stigmatized in part due to low doses of electricity administered without anaesthesia, leading to memory loss, bone fractures, and other adverse effects when the treatment was first introduced.
Unlike ECT, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulations (TMS) do not require the use of anaesthesia and the person will remain awake during the treatment. As an alternative to ECT, mental health professionals can now use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) which changes the brain's electromagnetic environment.
What does Transcranial Magnetic Stimulations(TMS) actually mean?
TMS devices operate completely outside the body and affect CNS activity by applying powerful magnetic fields to the specific area of the brain where depression (major depressive disorder) mainly occurs in adult patients who have failed to receive satisfactory improvement from prior antidepressant medication in the current episode.
The most common side effects during the treatments are:
Headaches
Scalp discomfort
Facial twitching
Seizures are a rare but serious side effect seen. TMS is not recommended for people who have had a head injury in the past or those with neurological issues.
This is now approved by the FDA in the USA and by NICE in the UK for the treatment of depression. The treatment is predominantly provided by private clinics.
Every single method or treatment has its pros and cons. The pros and cons are:-
TMS PROS
Time Commitment
Availability
Low Risk Of Seizure
TMS CONS
Non-invasive
No Systemic Side Effect
Fits In Your Daily Routine
TMS Is Effective
No Memory Issues With TMS
Procedures
Treatment sessions vary in length depending on the TMS coil used and the number of pulses delivered but typically last around 30-40 minutes. A series of treatments are required for TMS therapy. TMS, which takes 4 to 6 weeks for its full course, is provided 5 days a week to the patient. Depending on how well an individual responds to the treatment, this can vary.The patient is fully awake and aware throughout the treatment unlike ECT. In this procedure, there is no "recovery time". So the patients can drive home after the procedure and resume their routine.
There are different ways to perform the procedure, and techniques may change as experts learn more about the most effective ways to perform treatments. There is no denying that this therapy is a breakthrough in the field of mental health treatments and despite prior scepticism, the responses have been in general positive. It has improved many lives positively and encouraged the destigmatisation of depression. Such advancement of mental healthcare is the advancement of humanity as a healthy mind, is a healthy life.
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