If you’ve ever experienced trauma in your life, then you know full well the effects can last months – even years after the event.
Unfortunately, trauma isn’t often an isolated incident and if left untreated, it can manifest into something much more difficult – PTSD.
While there’s no “one-size-fits-all” approach to treating post-traumatic stress disorder, TMS has shown extremely promising results when it comes to relief from symptoms like depression.
But what exactly is TMS treatment and how can it help someone struggling with the aftermath of trauma? Let’s talk about it.
In this article, we’ll discuss what TMS is and how it works as well as some common questions about its use with patients who have been diagnosed with PTSD symptoms.
What is PTSD?
It’s probably best we start with the basics. What is PTSD?
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can develop after a traumatic event. It can be experienced by people of all ages and backgrounds, regardless of where they were when the trauma occurred or how long ago it took place.
The symptoms of PTSD can vary from person to person, but they often fall into two major categories:
- Flashbacks: Re-experiencing trauma through emotional reactions to triggers that remind you of the event. These are mental images and feelings that come into your mind at unexpected times, often without warning and without your control. Such flashbacks may also occur in nightmares or as intense feelings such as fear or anger when there’s no apparent cause for them.
- Avoidance: Avoiding people, places, activities or thoughts associated with the trauma because they make you feel afraid or upset. Some examples might be avoiding certain roads if you live near where you were involved in an accident; avoiding making phone calls because you’re worried about hearing bad news; or avoiding thinking about something stressful because doing so will bring back memories from before it happened.
What is TMS?
TMS therapy is a non-invasive treatment that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate the brain. The FDA approved TMS therapy for depression and major depressive disorder in 2008.
A single session of TMS lasts 30 minutes, with most patients only needing one session per day, a few days per week. The treatment does not require anesthesia or sedation, so patients can receive sessions while awake and alert—this also helps reduce discomfort during treatment.
TMS therapy for PTSD is not an end-all cure, but it may help patients manage their debilitating symptoms.
How Does TMS Help With Depression and PTSD?
When you think about how TMS works, it’s helpful to understand how the brain processes depression and PTSD.
These disorders are often caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. When you’re depressed or have PTSD, your brain doesn’t produce enough of certain chemicals that regulate mood and emotions. This can make it difficult for you to feel happy and enjoy life.
TMS treatment for PTSD will stimulate specific areas of your brain that affect regulation of emotion. This in turn helps balance out the chemical imbalance responsible for depression or PTSD symptoms such as intrusive thoughts, hyperarousal, paranoia, irritability and angry outbursts.
It also increases blood flow to these areas, improving their function and helping them work better again—just like a car with low oil pressure needs more oil pumped into its engine so it can run smoothly again!
Oftentimes in people living with depression or PTSD, areas of the brain become stagnant and simply don’t work as well as those without mental health problems. TMS therapy works to re-energize these centers allowing for a refreshed and rejuvenated state of mind.
Because TMS uses magnetic fields instead of drugs or surgery (and therefore has virtually no side effects), this treatment is safe even if used long-term (which we recommend!)
Plus there are no known drug interactions with TMS so people can safely continue taking any medications they may be prescribed while undergoing treatment.
What To Expect From TMS Treatment For PTSD:
TMS therapy is a safe and effective treatment for PTSD. It can help to reduce symptoms of chronic depression, anxiety, and nightmares.
Not only this, but TMS treatment does not involve any drugs or medications and it’s done in an office setting by a psychiatrist or neurologist with expertise in this area. The procedure takes only about 30 minutes to complete meaning many patients can resume their daily schedule shortly after!
While TMS therapy won’t cure your condition, it can significantly help reduce symptoms of PTSD that are making life unbearable.
PTSD therapy for depression has also been proven to be incredibly effective so if you’re interested in learning more about how this noninvasive treatment works for people like you check out Gemini TMS. Gemini is one of the top TMS therapy centers in Maryland helping those with mental health struggles get their lives back on track.
Resources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4492646/