If the first round of TMS doesn’t provide full symptom relief, this doesn’t mean that nothing will work. Many people with depression require a long-term treatment plan that involves trying multiple treatments. It’s common to combine antidepressants with talk therapy and/or lifestyle changes like an exercise regimen.

Biomedical therapy involves medication and/or medical procedures to treat psychological disorders. Biomedical therapies approach psychological disorders as having biological causes and focus on eliminating or alleviating symptoms of psychological disorders.

Some studies have shown that when used for depression, TMS causes increased anxiety. A 2011 trial showed that when administered to individuals with panic disorder, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) caused higher anxiety levels.

You probably won’t notice any immediate effects, especially in the first few weeks. On average, most patients need at least four weeks before they start noticing anything different about themselves. Some patients won’t notice changes until weeks after they complete their treatment.

Does TMS work? Approximately 50% to 60% of people with depression who have tried and failed to receive benefit from medications experience a clinically meaningful response with TMS. About one-third of these individuals experience a full remission, meaning that their symptoms go away completely.

How long a session last varies from patient to patient, but most sessions are 20 to 40 minutes long. Compared to most antidepressants, which usually take about six weeks to show results, TMS works relatively quickly. Patients report changes in mood starting as early as the first week of treatment.

Repetitive TMS is usually done in a doctor’s office or clinic. It requires a series of treatment sessions to be effective. Generally, sessions are carried out daily, five times a week for four to six weeks.

Conclusion. Administration of two rTMS treatment sessions per day is tolerable for patients and does not seem to be inferior in efficacy to a OD protocol. TD administration has the benefit of producing symptom improvement over a shorter time span and requires fewer visits to the clinic.

TMS is more affordable (covered by most insurance and Medicare), and elicits fewer side effects than ECT. It has also been proven to be an effective treatment for depression. However, it appears to be less effective than ECT and requires more sessions.

Studies have demonstrated that TMS is an effective and safe intervention for individuals with bipolar depression, as long as parameters are being watched closely. Interestingly, one particularly well done study showed that TMS improved cognition in depressed individuals with bipolar disorder.

During a typical course, you’ll receive around 36 treatments over a nine week period. You’ll undergo five treatment sessions per week for the first six weeks, and then taper down the remaining six sessions over the following three weeks.

TMS doesn’t change a patient’s personality, but studies have shown that particular personality dimensions can increase a patient’s antidepressant response when given repetitive TMS treatments.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) uses a magnetic field to “carry” a short lasting electrical current pulse into the brain where it stimulates neurones, particularly in superficial regions of cerebral cortex. TMS can interfere with cognitive functions in two ways.