It is natural for us to feel upset, on edge and terrified after experiencing a traumatic event. These emotions can be hard to deal with at the moment, but normally, they pass away with time and we get back to resuming our everyday life.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a condition where these feelings of anxiety stay for extended periods and don’t go away on their own. PTSD can be challenging as it can interfere with your everyday life. Traditionally, medications and therapy are used for treating PTSD, but they don’t always give lasting benefits.
What is TMS Therapy for PTSD?
TMS stands for Transcranial magnetic stimulation. It is a newly developed unconventional treatment for PTSD, but it has shown amazing benefits in improving the lives of people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is also approved safe by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for safely treating clinical depression.
The U.S Department of Veteran affairs proposed TMS for the treatment of war veterans that were not finding relief with anti-depressants and therapy. Also, it is noticed that many people with PTSD are treatment-resistant, means that they have tried treatments such as Medications and talk therapies in the past, but they usually see no significant benefits.
TMS therapy for PTSD is a promising alternative treatment. Although it may not help you completely get rid of your PTSD but will reduce the extreme symptoms, improving overall function. For some people who suffer with PTSD anxiety, the improvement they gain from TMS for PTSD allows them to maintain gainful employment and enjoy time with their families again.
How does TMS Therapy work?
Extreme trauma can cause a change in your brain patterns, that is why it can be difficult to change your perception and feel normal after the event. TMS uses magnetic pulses to shift and restore the brain back to healthy patterns. It works by using repetitive magnetic pulses to calm the area of your brain that regulates your mood and controls your emotional reactions.
A professional therapist is there to ensure your comfort all the time during the procedure and everything is done under a controlled and safe environment. You are seated in a chair and a device with an electromagnetic coil is placed near your right prefrontal cortex or the area of your brain which needs to be targeted, based on your personal brain map.
The device is held in place for about 20-40 minutes (depending on the individual) and steady magnetic current pulses are passed through the specific parts of the brain causing neurons to send electric pulses. This triggers a chemical reaction that helps reduce some PTSD symptoms and improve the patient’s mood over time.
These sessions may be done up to 30 times to comprise and entire course of treatment, more or less depending on the patient. It is also important to note that TMS is a non-invasive therapy meaning it does not require any anesthesia or hospitalization so people undergoing TMS can easily follow their normal routines.
What benefits do patients notice after TMS?
Some patients start seeing the results in a couple of weeks, while others may take longer to feel the recovery starting. After a couple of weeks of regular sessions, patients reported that their PTSD symptoms were less intense and more controllable. Most people report improvements in the following symptoms after TMS:
- Less emotional numbness
- Less intrusive thoughts and images
- Improved sleep
- Less extreme alertness or hypervigilance
- Less intense distress at reminders of the traumatic event
- Less self-destructive behavior such as drug abuse
- Less irritability and aggressive behavior
TMS a tested approach for PTSD
TMS induces direct changes on your brain’s patterns with minimal if any side effects; that is why it is being praised by many mental health professionals as a viable treatment for PTSD. Majority of the PTSD patients that tried TMS reported significant improvements in their symptoms and so can you. Feel free to contact South Tampa Psychiatry #TMStherapyNOW if you have any questions about the treatment.
