Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) therapy is a possible means of helping those who have completed addiction recovery or in rehab to control their cravings. It may also benefit those with anxiety or depression to regulate their negative emotions. By targeting the brain, TMS offers a non-invasive, drug-free means of treating a variety of conditions. For more information about this treatment option, please reach out to BoardPrep Recovery today at 866.796.4720.
How Does TMS Therapy Work?
TMS therapy stimulates nerves in the prefrontal cortex through magnets placed on the head. Pulsing the magnet activates this portion of the brain, helping ease substance cravings or negative emotions over multiple sessions.
For those with addiction, stimulating this portion of the brain seems to calm impulses that cause the patient to respond to substance cravings. People with anxiety often find their feelings eased with this treatment. Those with depression may have an improvement in their mood when undergoing this therapy.
While scientists do not know the precise mechanism that allows TMS therapy to work, they do see a connection between stimulating nerves in the brain’s emotional regulation center and the results in patients they treat.
Who Benefits from TMS Therapy?
Many patients benefit from TMS therapy, making it a highly useful tool for the mental health field. This type of treatment could help the following types of individuals:
- Those with substance use disorder who experience intense cravings
- Individuals with treatment-resistant depression
- People who have severe anxiety that does not respond to medication
- Patients in a dual diagnosis treatment program for addiction and mental health issues
While TMS therapy helps many types of patients, the treatment method follows the same course, regardless of whether the individual needs TMS therapy for addiction recovery or help with mental wellness.
The full TMS treatment program typically requires five sessions a week for four to six weeks for those with mental health conditions. While studies show that a single treatment changes the portion of the brain responsible for impulsive actions, such as taking substances in response to seeing or craving them, patients typically need more than one session for lasting results. Progress from TMS therapy appears cumulative, so better emotional regulation and cravings reductions occur after multiple sessions.
TMS Therapy as Part of a Complete Treatment Program
As with most aspects of mental health treatment, transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy often pairs with other forms of care. For example, patients typically require co-current psychotherapy. Some common types of talk therapy that patients may undergo while doing TMS treatments may include:
- Mindfulness-based therapy
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Trauma therapy
- Dialectical behavior therapy program
Each type of therapy uses different methods to help patients reshape their thinking patterns to break away from the intrusive thoughts of mental health conditions. Since everyone has individual needs, dual diagnosis treatment programs offer many forms of psychotherapy to help as many patients as possible to get the help they need. Combining these therapies with TMS may boost the results of each, improving the patient’s overall well-being and recovery outcome.
Connect with BoardPrep Recovery Center®
While attending substance use addiction treatment programs can help to lay the path for lifelong sobriety, hurdles and challenges will still appear along the way. TMS therapy can help an individual to overcome those challenges by controlling cravings in response to external stimuli. In this manner, it can help prevent relapses in patients who complete treatment. Additionally, this therapy can help those with mental health conditions or in dual diagnosis programs.
For anyone struggling after rehab to quell their cravings or experiences mental health problems with addiction, TMS therapy could help. Please find out more by phoning BoardPrep Recovery Center® at 866.796.4720 or connecting with us online. We work to help people to overcome addiction and mental health issues through science-backed treatment.
