In the U.S., rTMS was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2008 to treat patients suffering from treatment resistant depression, or in other words, patients who do not respond to standard antidepressants. It has since been approved or recommended in several other countries. The main advantage of rTMS is that it is a non-invasive, drug-free, and safe alternative treatment that really works: up to half of the patients for whom other antidepressant strategies have not worked will respond to rTMS.
Why brain stimulation should not be overlooked as an antidepressant treatment for older adults
In the U.S., rTMS was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2008 to treat patients suffering from treatment resistant depression, or in other words, patients who do not respond to standard antidepressants. It has since been approved or recommended in several other countries. The main advantage of rTMS is that it is a non-invasive, drug-free, and safe alternative treatment that really works: up to half of the patients for whom other antidepressant strategies have not worked will respond to rTMS.