Vital TMS Therapy & Mental Health Services
Major Depression Therapy located in Washington, DC.
If you have major depression, just getting yourself dressed can feel like an impossible challenge. Many patients who have major depression benefit from treatments like therapy and medication, but these aren’t effective for everyone. If you’re struggling with depression and your current treatments aren’t working, Vital TMS Therapy located in Washington DC provides an alternative. TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) is a safe, painless, totally noninvasive treatment that uses magnetic energy to adjust your brain chemistry. To find out more about the benefits of TMS for major depression, call Vital TMS Therapy today, or request an appointment online.
Major Depression Q & A
What is major depression?
Major depression or major depressive disorder is an illness that affects your mood and your thought processes. It makes you feel extremely low all the time and robs your life of any pleasure. Major depression is a serious condition that can be life-threatening if left untreated.
Everyone knows what it’s like to feel down or have days when nothing goes right. These normal emotions and experiences are part of life and, although unpleasant, are temporary.
Major depression has few similarities to these normal emotions. It’s more of an unending mental torture that makes life bleak beyond imagination.
Major depression can make it a struggle to work or carry out everyday activities. Your relationships suffer, and you find it increasingly hard to get through the day. At some point, work might become impossible, and in time you might find it a challenge just to get out of bed.
Some people who have major depression reach a point where their suffering is so extreme they try to take their own life. However, receiving treatment for your depression can make a difference and prevent you from reaching this stage. Even if you’re suicidal, there’s still every chance of recovery with the right treatment.
What are the symptoms of depression?
Depression causes a whole host of negative emotions. You might have a few or lots of these emotions, which include feelings like:
- Sadness
- Tearfulness
- Emptiness
- Hopelessness
- Anger
- Irritability
- Frustration
- Self-loathing
- Anxiety
- Agitation
- Restlessness
- Worthlessness
- Guilt
It can be difficult to concentrate, and memory and other cognitive functions are likely to suffer.
In addition to the weight of your emotional burden, depression also causes physical health problems. You might have trouble sleeping or sleep more than you should. Headaches, upset stomach, odd aches and pains, and either a loss of appetite or overeating are also common.
How is depression treated?
The most effective treatments for major depression are usually a combination of talking therapies and antidepressant medication. It can take some time to find the optimal combination, and recovery from depression is often slow.
Some people find they still don’t feel any better despite trying medication and therapy. Others prefer not to use medication in case of any side effects. In these cases, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) could provide an effective alternative.
The team at Vital TMS Therapy has specialist expertise in using TMS to treat major depression, for which it has FDA approval.
TMS is noninvasive, painless, and safe. It uses magnetic energy to increase the neurotransmitter levels in your brain. Neurotransmitters are feel-good chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
Increasing neurotransmitter levels is what drugs such as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and SNRIs (selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors) aim to do as well. However, TMS is a more targeted approach.
To find out more about using TMS to relieve you of the burden of major depression, call Vital TMS Therapy today or request an appointment online.
