TMS for Anxiety: A New Frontier in Mental Health Treatment
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology has changed the way we diagnose and treat health conditions. This might surprise you: it has ramifications for mental health, too.
Specifically, building on MRI technology, mental health experts have arrived at a treatment called transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS.
With this option, we can use safe, painless magnetic pulses, similar to the ones used in MRI machines, to effect changes in your brain. It’s an exciting treatment that’s driven notable improvement for people with multiple mental health conditions. Most recently, it’s been getting buzz as a drug-free, non-invasive treatment for anxiety.
Before we look at the way transcranial magnetic stimulation works for anxiety, though, it helps to understand this treatment in general.
How TMS is changing mental health care
Historically, most mental health conditions have been treated with a combination of therapy and medication. TMS introduces a different option.
During TMS, you sit comfortably with a specialized coil around your head. That coil allows Dr. Reitano to send targeted magnetic energy through your head (hence the “transcranial” in the name) into your brain. This gives you a drug-free way to stimulate underactive or otherwise misperforming parts of your brain.
The FDA has already cleared TMS for depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and anxious depression. And you don’t need to have symptoms of depression to see benefits. Dr. Reitano has extensive experience using this groundbreaking treatment to help people with anxiety.
What TMS does to target anxiety
Dr. Reitano uses TMS to build on what researchers have uncovered about the brain, particularly the brains of people with anxiety. Researchers have, for example, connected the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) in your brain with anxiety expression.
With TMS, Dr. Reitano can stimulate your dlPFC by directing magnetic energy there. By sending magnetic pulses into that part of your brain, this treatment activates the neurons in the area.
With repeat TMS treatment, your brain starts to rewire (in the medical field, we call this neuroplasticity). As the magnetic energy changes the way your brain functions, it can give you notable and lasting relief from your anxiety symptoms.
TMS is particularly exciting because it’s been shown to work when other treatments have failed. If therapy, medication, or other interventions haven’t helped with your anxiety disorder, this could be a life-changing option for you.
Creating a personalized TMS plan for you
While the dlPFC plays a role for a lot of people with anxiety disorders, everyone’s different. That’s why Dr. Reitano personalizes your TMS treatment to you.
With brain mapping, he can see what parts of your brain aren’t performing like they should. This allows him to direct the magnetic stimulation right where it will most benefit you.
Similarly, Dr. Reitano creates a treatment cadence that’s designed to improve your symptoms as dramatically and quickly as possible. For a lot of people, that means near-daily treatments for several weeks. The treatments are short and painless (usually about 30 minutes), and there’s no downtime afterward. Many of our patients come on their lunch break or after work or school. One patient even rode to and from the office on his motorcycle.
We work with you to create a truly personalized treatment plan to help relieve your anxiety. To explore how TMS could soothe your symptoms, schedule an appointment with our team today.
