For starters, people getting ECT are sedatedRandle wasntto prevent them from feeling any pain.
Its estimated that around30 percentof people withdepressiondont respond to typical antidepressants.
This is known astreatment-resistant depression, and brain stimulation therapies can be life-changing for people who experience it.
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This can help alleviate symptoms ofdepressionor other mental illnesses that arent responding to typical treatments, such asbipolar disorder.
Lets explore what they are, how they work, and their potential risks.
That proposed reclassification isstill ongoing.
So, lets say your medical care team has decided youre a good candidate for ECT.
Then, doctors will expose you to a direct electrical current via electrodes on your scalp.
The current triggers a short seizure, usually under a minute long.
Again, you shouldnt feel any discomfort, which might be hard to believe.
But thats the beauty of anesthesia.
We don’t know the exact mechanisms by which ECT works, Dr. Berman says.
So, theFDAapproved VNS for treatment-resistant depression in 2005.
Although VNS is a brain stimulation treatment, it actually starts outside your head.
Pulse generators typically work for around 10 years before they need to be replaced, theNIMHsays.
TheNIMHnotes that some peoples conditions get worse after they try VNS, not better.
This started as a treatment for Parkinsons disease, according to theAmerican Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Then doctors realized it showed promise for easing depression andobsessive compulsive disordertoo.
(DBS isFDA-approved for OCD, butnot yet for depression.)
Like VNS, deep brain stimulation uses pulse generators in the chest to send electrical pulses to the brain.
If youre getting DBS, youll actually be awake for thebrain surgery, which, yes, sounds terrifying.
It seems as though the DBS pulses reset the parts of the brain that are causing symptoms, theNIMHexplains.
In August 2018, approval was expanded to include treatment ofobsessive compulsive disorder.
This is typically administered five times a week for four to six weeks, according to theMayo Clinic.
You might feel a knocking or tapping sensation as this happens, though.
You might also feel some discomfort at the stimulation site and aheadacheduring or after the procedure.
Although its a small study, its promising.
MST was developed to address remaining concerns about the effects of other brain stimulation therapies on cognition.
