TMS – What is the SAINT protocol? Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for depression is typically administered once a day for 20 minutes, 5 days a week for 6 weeks, followed by a gradual taper. Termed the DASH protocol, this method has been adopted into clinical practice for many years with excellent results and is the…
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a highly safe and effective procedure for the treatment of depression. Since TMS delivers a series of magnetic pulses to the prefrontal cortex for roughly twenty minutes, giving the sensation of a rapid and repetitive “tapping” on the scalp, it’s reasonable to wonder? Will TMS cause or worsen headaches, especially…
The FDA approval of Prozac in 1987 marked a revolution in the treatment of depression. Before then, the mainstay of treatment had been talk therapy of the kind originally inspired by Sigmund Freud, and the only medications available were those that had been around since the 1950s—the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). …
What is Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy? Since the mid-1990s, renewed interest in psychedelics has spurred more and more research into their therapeutic potential. The results so far have been promising. They suggest with reasonable confidence that certain drugs broadly defined as “psychedelic”—psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine among the most studied—are generally safe, well-tolerated, and may be uniquely…
TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) and ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) are two of the most well-established, non-pharmacological interventions used in the treatment of depression that fails to respond to medications or talk-therapy. TMS and ECT are similar in that they are both non-invasive procedures that use neuromodulation to achieve their antidepressant effects. Neuromodulation is a method for…
Mounting research suggests psychedelics may effectively treat depression and other mental health disorders. Ketamine, MDMA, psilocybin and ayahuasca are hallucinogens that may bring relief to people with depressive or anxious symptoms, even those whose symptoms do not respond to traditional antidepressants. Most of these psychedelics only need to be taken a few times to provide…
Ketamine therapy can be a great method of treating severe medication- and treatment-resistant depression. However, there are a few ketamine infusion side effects to be aware of before starting the therapy. One of the most well-known side effects of ketamine is dissociation. Dissociation refers to a temporary mental state in which a person ‘detaches’ from…
March 19th, 2020 Ziv E. Cohen, MD In this challenging time, many are feeling anxiety about their health and economic security. The Covid-19 outbreak, which began in China, in a matter of weeks has spread around the world. In the process, how we live our lives has been dramatically altered. Work disruption and changes…
Question: My friends and I go out drinking a lot, and I’m worried that one of my friends is an alcoholic. She has repeatedly drank to the point of blacking out, and it happens so often. Can repeated blackouts indicate an alcohol problem? Answer: Yes, repeated blackouts can be indicative of an alcohol problem. A…
Question: I’m a 30-year-old male and I was just diagnosed with adult ADD. My doctor told me that I need to take medications to control it. What are the side-effects of attention deficit medications? Answer: Adult Attention Deficit Disorder has become a more commonly recognized condition. It used to be believed that ADD only manifested…