A Milder Alternative to Electroconvulsive Therapy

This article I read talks about Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), a similar alternative to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Whereas ECT uses electric current that triggers seizure, TMS only sends pulses of electricity into the brain. This method is considered milder and more effective.

There is a case of 61-year old man who suffers from severe bipolar disorder. After going through TMS sessions, the results were very promising and he was able to have his normal life back again.

This treatment of sending magnetic pulses to the prefrontal cortex of the brain was first discovered in 1985. Because TMS targets a small area (the size of a silver dollar) in the brain that helps balance brain chemistry, it is able to treat patients with depression and suicidal thoughts, and even unwanted voices associated with schizophrenia.

TMS is a promising alternative to ECT, with little or no side effects at all. Only 10-20% of patients experience mild headaches. Even though this treatment is now available in Mindcare Centres clinic in Toronto and Vancouver, another five years of further research and refinement is required for approval of official use in other parts of the world.

I have always had a bad perception towards these sort of "shock therapy." They sound and look barbaric and inhumane, especially after I saw the movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. And personally, I've always thought that for people with severe depression, treatments like ECT and TMS will only work temporarily. After the brain receives its 'shaking' and 'waking' by electric currents, it will be 'awake' for only a certain period of time before it restores back to its original state again. And if that really is the case, continuous treatments will be needed, and TMS are very costly - ranging from $3,000 to $6,000 depending on the number of sessions needed. However, after having watched Sherwin Nuland's talk on TED about how ECT have treated his depression, and after reading this article, I am convinced that perhaps these 'inhumane' methods actually make patients more humane.