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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Help you feel less isolated. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)ECT is typically used in people with serious or life-threatening depression that can’t be resolved by other treatments, or in significant depressive episodes that have not gotten better after several medication trials. It uses electric impulses to trigger controlled seizures in the brain. A series of ECT treatments (usually 6-12 over a few weeks) can often rapidly relieve depression. But some form of continued therapy (either a medicine or else periodic ECT “booster” treatments) is usually necessary to prevent relapse. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)This approach is also used in people with serious depression who haven't responded to other treatments. Like ECT, it uses electrical stimulation to relieve the symptoms of depression. The difference is that the device is surgically implanted in your body. VNS is FDA-approved for the long-term treatment of chronic depression that doesn’t respond to at least two antidepressants. Its effects may take up to 9 months to appear, and studies have shown that a meaningful response seems to occur only in about 1 in 3 people. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)This is a noninvasive approach. Like ECT and VNS, it uses electrical stimulation to treat depression. Unlike those procedures, TMS poses few side effects. It may be best for seriously depressed people who are mildly resistant to drug therapy. You’ll have treatment on an outpatient basis 4-5 days a week for 4 or more weeks. It’s considered safe but does not appear to be as effective as ECT.Experimental techniquesExperts are researching
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