Citation

Janicak PG, Dokucu ME. Neuropsychiatr. Dis. Treat. 2015; 11: 1549-1560.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Dove Press)

DOI

10.2147/NDT.S67477

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Major depression is often difficult to diagnose accurately. Even when the diagnosis is properly made, standard treatment approaches (eg, psychotherapy, medications, or their combination) are often inadequate to control acute symptoms or maintain initial benefit. Additional obstacles involve safety and tolerability problems, which frequently preclude an adequate course of treatment. This leaves an important gap in our ability to properly manage major depression in a substantial proportion of patients, leaving them vulnerable to ensuing complications (eg, employment-related disability, increased risk of suicide, comorbid medical disorders, and substance abuse). Thus, there is a need for more effective and better tolerated approaches. Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a neuromodulation technique increasingly used to partly fill this therapeutic void. In the context of treating depression, we critically review the development of transcranial magnetic stimulation, focusing on the results of controlled and pragmatic trials for depression, which consider its efficacy, safety, and tolerability. © 2015 Janicak and Dokucu.

Language: en

Keywords

human; Review; psychotherapy; patient safety; major depression; Transcranial magnetic stimulation; Electroconvulsive therapy; Treatment-resistant depression; neuroimaging; Major depression; nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; electroconvulsive therapy; nonhuman; magnetic field; positron emission tomography; electroencephalography; electrophysiology; transcranial magnetic stimulation; single photon emission computer tomography; clinical effectiveness; neuromodulation; transcranial direct current stimulation; dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; electroencephalograph; transcranial magnetic stimulation system