Bellevue, WA clinic uses magnetic therapy to treat depression
New treatment offers medication-free option for depression, OCD
As seasonal depression affects many people after the holidays, a Bellevue clinic is highlighting transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, as a non-medication treatment for depression and OCD. The FDA-approved therapy uses magnetic pulses to stimulate targeted areas of the brain, with providers saying it may help patients who have not found relief through traditional treatments.
BELLEVUE, Wash. - Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a newer technology that is becoming more widely available to the general public. It is FDA approved to treat depression and OCD.
Dealing with depression
Seattle has ranked in the top ten cities impacted by seasonal depression.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy is a treatment that goes right to the source to address the issue.
How it works
"What it’s doing is that it's giving gentle magnetic pulses to a specific area in your brain, which is then reactivating the neurons that may be lying dormant and that could be contributing to your depression, OCD, or other mental health conditions," said Melissa Mason, a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Modern Mind and Wellness in Bellevue.
Mason says TMS therapy has more recently become available to the general population as insurance providers are now covering the treatment.
Who can receive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment
She tells FOX 13 Seattle that any patient 15 years old and up can be prescribed TMS therapy if they meet the criteria for the treatment.
Each session with the TMS device takes about thirty minutes, from walking in to walking out of the clinic.
Mason says a total of 36 sessions are needed for effectiveness.
"What we do is we have the location of where we’re trying to treat already mapped out over here. So, we'll place the coil right at the treatment location," said Yosi Ellison, a TMS coordinator at Modern Mind and Wellness.
Ellison tells FOX 13 Seattle that during the treatment, the patient can sit back and relax. He says the patient may feel a light tapping as the magnetic pulses come through, describing the device as using similar technology to an MRI machine.
Mason says the only possible side effect is a temporary headache that may occur for a few minutes after treatment.
She is hopeful more people dealing with depression will consider this alternative to medication.
"I think that that is the largest barrier with TMS therapy, that people just don't know about it. Insurance is covering it, but people just aren’t aware of the therapy," said Mason.
For more information on the treatment, you can visit the Modern Mind and Wellness website.
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