“Shock Therapy,” or ECT, uses the application of electricity on the scalp, with the goal of inducing a seizure throughout the brain and thus “rebooting” all the brain circuits. Side effects have somewhat improved over the years, but there are still some cognitive side effects, with memory loss, as well as the risk of anesthesia as a patient needs to be under anesthesia and their muscles paralyzed. There is some recovery time (after each session) and the need to have a driver to drive the patient home. Because of its side effects, ECT is considered a "last resort" treatment. It does carry a lot of "stigma," but it can be life-saving in emergency situations.

In TMS Therapy, the procedure does not require sedation or anesthesia. Patients are awake and alert and upon completion of the session, about 37 minutes later, they can drive themselves back to work or school. It involves the application of a magnetic pulse to a specific brain region, called the prefrontal cortex or PFC, to gently stimulate brain neurons. It is like a “soft reboot” of specific brain circuits, without any loss of memory or other serious side effects.

TMS Therapy is not a “last resort” treatment like “shock therapy,” and it has actually been approved by the FDA and assigned by the APA Treatment Guidelines for Depression as a 2^nd line therapy (after failure of at least 1 antidepressant given at high enough dose, for long enough period).

For more information on TMS Therapy, please contact us at Victoria TMS Center. You can visit us at www.vtmsc.com or call us at (361) 582-5678.

We have been in Victoria since 2007 meeting your psychiatric care needs using mostly pharmacotherapy in combination with psychotherapy when appropriate. We are currently working on bringing you another treatment option for depression that is not based on medication or psychotherapy. This is a safe alternative to medications, having none of the medication side effects such as weight gain or sexual dysfunction, and being used (after becoming FDA-approved) in the United States since October 2008.

This treatment option is called (repetitive) transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS for short) and it uses magnetic fields to stimulate (repeatedly) a certain area of the brain. It is an outpatient procedure that does not require any anesthesia, takes about 37 minutes a day, and patients can go back to work right away. A course of treatment usually requires 20-30 sessions and some patients are able to see results within the 2nd week.

Not everyone will be a candidate for TMS, as one must have not responded to at least one trial of an antidepressant medication. There are also some contraindication for TMS, as one should not have any metallic plates or clips in the brain.

We plan to provide the TMS therapy through the opening of Victoria TMS Center towards the end of March 2010. Please, stay tuned for more updates.

Thank you.

Dr. Bouras
Medical Director
Victoria TMS Center