Advances in Evidence-Based Treatment
Drug therapy has come a long way in recent years. It tends to work best when combined with psychotherapy, as supported by ample evidence.
For people whose depression is resistant to psychotherapy and drug therapy, doctors may use electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
While it’s usually outpatient therapy, proper dosing and support of a patient using ketamine is critical. They can improve ...
Newer Treatments
...symptoms, behavior, and function. They tend to be fast-acting, but for some people the effects don’t last long.
Another drawback is that people may try to self-medicate, which is very difficult. TMS, which involves passing a very weak magnetic current through your skull, is interesting.
It works like a dimmer switch to change the electrical activity of your brain and reduce signs and symptoms of depression.
There’s very promising research that repetitive TMS can be very effective in treating certain forms of treatment-resistant depression. It can be used by itself or combined with psychotherapy or drug treatment.
It can be adjusted for each individual patient to most effectively control their symptoms and signs of depression. ...
...Over time, the brain activity involved in depression may be turned off, which means patients stay in remission.
An interesting effect we’ve seen with some patients is how significantly it changes their outlook. Other cons include side effects and cost. Insurance companies don’t uniformly cover DBS.
As the technology gets better, there will be a need for maintenance and upkeep that may be costly.
The emerging technology is moving toward minimal or noninvasive DBS.
On the Horizon