There is hope.

Depression is the second leading behavioral health condition nationally (anxiety disorders being the leading behavioral condition) and the reason one of the principal conditions treated at TheraMind Centers is Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).  According to a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) 2017 survey, an estimated 17.3 million (7.1%) U.S. adults (18 years and over) suffer at least one episode of Clinical Depression each year. Of these, 11.0 million (64%) experience severe impairment. An additional 3.2 million adolescents ages 12 – 17 also experience an episode of MDD each year, 71% of whom experience severe Impairment. 

Historically, depression has been treated with antidepressants and cognitive behavioral therapy.  However, in October 2008 the FDA approved transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) therapy for treatment of MDD in patients for whom antidepressant drug therapy was either ineffective or caused unacceptable side-effects.  TMS is a non-invasive treatment for MDD that has been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association in its Best Practices Guidelines as an effective treatment for depression. TMS therapy differs from traditional drug therapy because it employs MRI-strength magnetic impulses that are targeted only to specific regions of the brain. Consequently, TMS is free of the systemic side effects common to drug therapy. Learn more at TMS Treatment Options. In actual clinical practice since the FDA approval TMS has been shown to be both safe and highly effective even in patients who had tried and failed multiple courses of antidepressants.