A few facts about
Depression
Depression is very common, with approximately 1 in 5 people suffering from this illness during their lifetime.
There are many treatment options from psychological therapy and antidepressants through to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for the most severe cases.
The majority of people can be successfully treated with psychological therapy and/or antidepressants, but there is a significant proportion of people who suffer from treatment resistant depression.
Until recently, the only alternative to medication for treatment resistant depression was ECT, a treatment which can have major side effects such as memory loss and cognitive impairment. ECT has proven to be a powerful tool for many people suffering from a major depressive disorder, but there is often a limit to how much ECT can be administered due to the seriousness of side effects. In comparison, TMS is a milder form of brain stimulation treatment. This is due to the focused nature of the therapy, with only a small area of the brain being stimulated in TMS, unlike ECT which induces seizures and requires general anaesthetic.
For a detailed overview of depression, the Royal Australian Collage of Psychiatrists has developed a guide that can be accessed here:
Take the QIDS test
If you’d like to see if TMS is a good choice take our QIDS test and see what your score is.