Magnet therapy for depression: few side effects

A new treatment for depression, rTMS, helps some patients, a rigorous government-funded study finds. The treatment is called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. It's basically an electromagnet. When applied to the skull just behind the left forehead, the device induces a tiny electric current in a part of the brain linked to depression. Because the device carries little risk, the FDA in October 2008 cleared the device for treatment of major clinical depression in adults who got no relief from first-line antidepressant treatment.

190 people who had failed to get relief from at least one antidepressant medication were recruited. Many had tried several different treatments. They received either rTMS or the sham treatment for three weeks. The result: 14% of those treated with rTMS had remission of their depression, compared with only 5% of those getting the sham treatment. Those whose depression did not get better after three weeks entered a continuation trial in which the sham treatment was discontinued and everyone got rTMS. Thirty percent of the patients in this continuation study had remission of their depression with few side effects.The findings in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

Steve - we recommend this as a therapy in our Improve Your Mood Action Plan.