Depression Talk

First, an electronic magnetic device was approved for headache treatment and now there’s a big fuss in the blogosphere about using a similar kind of magnetic doo-hickey for treatment of clinical depression. It’s been approved by the U.S Federal Drug Administration for depressives. So, what’s this thing supposed to treat next? The common cold? The war in Iraq?

What Is It?

The super-duper name for it is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? The good news is that thee doesn’t seem to be any negative side effects. The bad news is that it can’t possibly work in the long term. Short term, yes — but not long term.

Granted, I’m not a doctor nor a therapist. I do, however, have a brain and use it regularly(despite my many years in Christian education). Magnetic therapy does seem to help people and animals for some sports-related aches and pains, and does have some traditional folk healing properties (including migraine treatment) — but nowhere in myth, folk healing or even urban legends have there been any indications that magnets help depression or melancholia.

The Placebo Effect

Although the makers of this doo-hickey, Neuronetics, Inc., claim they have done clinical testing with 164 deressives proving the benefits of TMS to patients with major depression, I can’t help but wonder what the time period of these tests were. The placebo effect will inevitably last for the first few months. This is because if you believe it, it will come. If you believe a new doo-hickey will help cure you, you will feel cured. The mind is an incredibly powerful thing. It can be duped for bad reasons as well as for good reasons.

However, major depression is a life-long affliction which has to be battled every single darn day. It’s not merely a problem of brain chemicstry, but ingrained thinking habits learned over years. If major depression was only a physcial problem, then it should have been wiped out as soon as Prozac and his kin hit the market.

The thing about TMS that I distrust is that there isn’t any mention of treating the long-ingrained learned helplessness apparant in many with major depression. Also, how much is this thing? That’s GOT to be depressing!