TMS for Depression
Living with depression that is not getting better? Medications and therapy not helping? Feel like you have tried all the treatments for depression? At TMS Life, we specialize in Major Depression Treatment. There are new effective and non-invasive treatments available in Ottawa to support recovery and healing from depression. Don’t give up hope because there are more options available. Our main approach is rooted in the revolutionary field of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy.
Understanding Depression
Depression is more than just feeling sad; it’s a complex mental health condition that affects millions of individuals worldwide. It can impact every facet of your life, making daily tasks seem insurmountable and sapping the joy from things you once loved. But the good news is, you don’t have to face it alone. Our team is here to help guide your treatment plan and to start a new path towards wellness.
TMS Therapy: Depression Treatment Ottawa
TMS therapy represents a groundbreaking shift for major depressive disorder treatment. This cutting-edge technology harnesses the power of precisely targeted magnetic pulses to stimulate specific areas of your brain responsible for mood regulation. The result? the majority of clients achieving a significant reduction in depressive symptoms.
Why Choose TMS Life for Depression Treatment?
At TMS Life, we’re committed to providing you with the best possible care on your path to recovery:
- Expertise: Our team includes a highly trained Psychiatrist (MD), Registered Nurse and highly qualified TMS technicians.
- Personalized Care: We understand that each person’s experience with depression is unique. We tailor our TMS therapy to your specific needs.
- Compassionate Support: You’re not alone on this journey. We genuinely care about our clients and want you to be doing better. We offer guidance, encouragement and support.
- Cutting-Edge Technology: We invest in the latest TMS technology to ensure you receive the most advanced and effective treatment available.
- Results: The majority of our clients achieve a meaningful reduction in their symptoms within 3 weeks .
Let’s go
Depression may have been around for a long time and may seem insurmountable at times. TMS is part of a wave of new treatments and new hope. Now is not the time to settle. At TMS Life, we’ve seen firsthand the benefits of TMS. We’re ready to work, are you ready too?
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, it is possible although it does not seem possible at the time. Every week we see clients who have been struggling with depression for years make huge progress and get back to living life again.
There is not an area of one’s life that MDD does not impact. Relationships are strained. Work suffers. Simply waking up in the morning to start the day can seem to large of a chore. Some individuals can manage to barely keep work and life’s commitments going while others crash and experience serious events including suicide attempts, suicide hospitalization, divorce and substance use disorders.
The first line of treatment for MDD is usually medications or psychotherapy. TMS Therapy is considered a first line treatment in the Canadian Mood and Anxiety Disorder guidelines after 1 failed trial of medications.
For some, MDD is a lifelong disorder and for others it is a brief period of time that resolves naturally or with treatment and never returns.
Many patients are able to stop their antidepressants once they respond to TMS Therapy. Some prefer to stay on them as the two therapies act synergistically to help relieve depressive symptoms. Also, studies have shown that TMS treatments can “revive” an antidepressant that had lost most, if not all, its beneficial effects on a patient. That antidepressant can also be used to do the Maintenance Therapy if continuing with periodic TMS treatments is not possible.
TMS therapy is not at all like Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT). ECT is a treatment based on using electricity to induce seizures. It is very effective and in many cases, it is a life-saver. ECT requires anesthesia and can have serious side-effects, including memory loss. It is only done in a hospital. On the other hand, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation uses electromagnetic pulses to non-invasively stimulate specific brain regions associated with major depressive disorder. No seizures are required for the treatment to be effective, and they are a very rare adverse event (< 4/50000) that we avoid at all costs. TMS therapy is performed in our office, requires no anesthesia, and has no systemic side effects.
Yes, TMS Therapy has been approved by Health Canada for clinical use in Canada since 2002.
Individuals who have failed ECT OR previously failed a complete course of rTMS (at least 30 sessions) are less likely to benefit from the treatment.
Individuals with a seizure disorder, implanted medical devices in or near the brain (cochlear ear implants, pacemakers) or who have ferromagnetic materials in the head or neck (dental work is fine) are not able to have TMS Therapy.
Living with a treatment resistant condition such as depression, OCD or PTSD can be insufferable and has serious consequences including harm to self and harm to others. TMS Therapy is a safe and effective treatment and it is worth trying if medications and psychotherapy are not working.
Similar to all treatments for mental health, the duration of benefit from TMS varies from individual to individual. Maintenance treatment is often recommended to reduce the risk of relapse.
Research has shown that TMS Therapy is a promising treatment to reduce anxiety. Many of our clients experience a reduction in their anxiety symptoms during and after treatment.
There are many different types of TMS and different protocols. We provide Deep TMS using brainsway technology. They have demonstrated clinically significant response rates in 4 out of 5 individuals treated for depression and 60% of individuals treated for OCD.
The cost effectiveness of TMS Therapy has been demonstrated across many studies. It appears expensive in Canada because individuals are paying for it directly without any subsidy from the government. TMS is a specialized treatment that requires expensive technology, training and staff. All of which are factored into the pricing.
TMS Therapy is a treatment that many would recommend as first line if it was more widely available in our current healthcare system. TMS is helpful for many concerns but the greatest evidencec is for individuals with treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, OCD and PTSD.