By Kathleen Berger
Marsha Meyer has a history of sharing her voice with others as a vocal teacher. When she wasn’t leading her show choir to a state victory, she volunteered to teach children songs at her church.
But one day in 1994, things went dark. She woke up feeling unable to function. Soon after, she was diagnosed with depression.
“I couldn’t do anything, and it felt like the world was so dark,” she said. “My doctor had me try every combination of antidepressants and treatments available to find something that worked, even medication from Canada, but nothing was really helping.”
After many years, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is working. It’s a nonsurgical depression treatment for adults who haven’t found success with medication. In a TMS session, patients are treated with magnetic pulses to stimulate nerves in the left prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain that controls mood. Activating these nerves helps other cells function and increases serotonin production, improving a patient’s overall mood.
“Treatments used to last much longer, but now sessions take 20 minutes or less,” said psychiatrist Muaid Ithman, MD, the medical director of interventional psychiatry. “Most of our patients opt for the express TMS, which only lasts for three minutes, and the side effects are minimal.”
“I just felt a tapping during the treatments that I could only imagine being a woodpecker on my head,” Marsha said. “At most, I got a mild headache the first few treatments until my body got used to it. Plus, you’re in and out so fast and feel so much better after.”
Meyer enjoyed feeling like herself again. She said TMS has made a huge difference in her life.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t have my bad days, I mean, I’m human, but I enjoy life. I look forward to the next day. I don’t have to wonder, ‘Will I be able to endure the depression that I was in?’ I don’t have it. It’s gone.”
“We’re trying to find out if maintenance TMS can help patients stay free of symptoms for a year,” Ithman said. “This could help patients stay off medication permanently.”
If your depression has not improved with medication or other treatments, ask your doctor if TMS may be right for you.
TMS is not for everybody, but about one third of patients see a significant reduction in their symptoms. Another third are able to achieve remission, which means all depressive symptoms go away.
