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Lindsay Israel
by Lindsay Israel, MD
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or TMS, is a non-invasive treatment approved by the FDA for major depression and using targeted magnetic impulses at a specific location of the brain.
SMT is a fully ambulatory procedure and is gaining ground in the behavioral health community as an effective alternative treatment for drug-resistant depression.
However, even more statistically significant than depression, anxiety is the most commonly diagnosed mental illness in the United States, affecting more than 18% of the adult population each year, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
It has long been established that depression and anxiety usually occur together. In fact, about half of patients diagnosed with depression also have some type of anxiety disorder.
Why TMS Against Anxiety Should Work
If TMS is an effective treatment for depression and if depression and anxiety are so interconnected and probably the result of dysregulation of the same neurocircuit in the brain, would TMS be an effective treatment for anxiety? The simple answer is yes. There is evidence.
It is thought that the symptoms of mood disorders and anxiety result in part from a disruption in the balance of activity in the emotional centers of the brain. The accepted TMS treatment protocol for depression uses fast, stimulating and high frequency pulses on the left side of the head, targeted at the prefrontal region of the brain.
If depression and anxiety go hand in hand, symptoms of anxiety should follow and improve along with symptoms of depression.
This is often the case with SMT, and patients experience relief from stimulation impulses as the sub-active brain areas of depression and anxiety regain a normal level of reactivity, as shown in Figure 1. functional imaging.
However, anxiety can have one's own life.
Anxiety is thought to be the result of failure of electrochemical signaling, due to both hyperactive areas and hypoactive brain areas, causing an excessive sense of worry or fear, leading to physical symptoms, including an increased heart rate, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal disturbances and muscle tension.
The theory for specifically treating anxiety with SMT was based on the understanding that the right side of the brain is known to send inhibitory signals to the left. Therefore, if the right side of the brain is subjected to slow, inhibitory and low frequency repetitive pulses, would it slow down those areas of the brain that are also overactive and have a calming effect on an anxious brain?
Studies on the treatment of anxiety with SMT
After hundreds of small studies conducted around the world with very positive results, it is now certain that MSD can be an effective treatment for various anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.
There is still more to know and more consistency between studies is needed to reach consensus on an accepted protocol for anxiety, a more precise definition of the target location of treatment, the number of legumes and the number of treatments. necessary to achieve remission of anxiety symptoms.
Take-away message
The uplifting message for those struggling with debilitating anxiety is that they have state-of-the-art technology.
TMS can offer an approach to treating their symptoms where traditional methods, including psychotropic drugs, have failed.
The TMS can give them the hope of not having any other choice in treatment, to get relief and to resume their lives without anxiety.
References:
Facts and statistics. American Association of Anxiety and Depression. Available at: https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics.
Lindsay Israel, MD, is a certified psychiatrist. She specializes in TMS at SuccessTMS in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
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