Anders experienced remission from depression after undergoing a course of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Although the devised used for this particular patient was a MagVita, Brainsway deep TMS has an even higher remission rate. In brief, his story is yet another success story of how magnetic stimulation has helped one of many people overcome stubborn depression.
Anders is a very intelligent and creative fellow. He was treated by Dr. Robert McMullen of New York for over 20 years, treated with just about every possible antidepressant. He had periods of responding and improving a lot but he would never be fully 100% in remission. At the time he started TMS, his Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score was 28, which was moderate to severe depression. At 28, you can function and perhaps go to work, but it was a struggle. After the 7th treatment, the MADRS score was down to 14. After completing 38 treatments, his score went down to 1! So there was quite a bit of therapeutic change, and it was dramatic.
Anders:
“With my depression, it was originally thinking the way most people are is like, does it need talk therapy and then there was a point at which I was feeling nothing negative is going on, so it has to be something physical and that’s what brought me to see a psychopharmacologist.” There always felt like there was a foot on his shoulder. It got in the way of his work, there was a loneliness that also went with it or at least a feeling of it. Then he went on medication for a number of years. But even then, there were points where the effects of it just seemed to stop. Then he heard of TMS. Originally, as many may experience, there was a fear about it somewhat. However, when he did it, it was well tolerated, it was mildly uncomfortable, but only in the beginning. He was able to quickly adjust to the sensations. He found he was easily able to carry on with a conversation while the treatment was taking place.
As the treatment started to work, he noticed gradually, the depression starting to lift. Then two thirds of the way through, his wife said he seemed lighter, less oppressed. He became more focused, talkative, and more productive. Piece by piece, the symptoms associated with depression, started to fall away. Piece by piece, he found himself coming back. It did not feel like an artificial happy high but rather a return to a normal baseline. He felt like his mind was repaired for whatever the glitch was.