A brain pacemaker helped a woman with crippling depression. It may soon be available to more people

[JacksinPA]

A brain pacemaker helped a woman with crippling depression. It may soon be available to more people

Researchers are testing deep brain stimulation as a treatment for people with a severe form of depression.

apnews.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Emily Hollenbeck lived with a deep, recurring depression she likened to a black hole, where gravity felt so strong and her limbs so heavy she could barely move. She knew the illness could kill her. Both of her parents had taken their lives.

She was willing to try something extreme: Having electrodes implanted in her brain as part of an experimental therapy.

Researchers say the treatment —- called deep brain stimulation, or DBS — could eventually help many of the nearly 3 million Americans like her with depression that resists other treatments. It’s approved for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy, and many doctors and patients hope it will become more widely available for depression soon.

The treatment gives patients targeted electrical impulses, much like a pacemaker for the brain. A growing body of recent research is promising, with more underway — although two large studies that showed no advantage to using DBS for depression temporarily halted progress, and some scientists continue to raise concerns.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration has agreed to speed up its review of Abbott Laboratories’ request to use its DBS devices for treatment-resistant depression.
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An interesting alternative to offing yourself.

I found a method of making carbon monoxide by simply heating a chemical found on Amazon. I had carbon monoxide poisoning & I can see how it's an odorless gas that can kill you. I am not posting the details.

 

[Northern Light]

DPS is becoming the catch all for a lot of conditions, including Parkinson's.

IMO it seems like an updated version of electroshock therapy, just on a smaller scale. "We don't know how to fix this so we'll just jolt the brain and hope it resets in a way that looks healthy."

I would try ketamine therapy for depression before this.

 

[OrphanSlug]

If it works for certain conditions of depression, assuming no longer term impacts not yet known, then I am all for it. It may, repeat may, be more superior to all the drugs the industry keeps cranking out.

 

[JacksinPA]

DPS is becoming the catch all for a lot of conditions, including Parkinson's.

IMO it seems like an updated version of electroshock therapy, just on a smaller scale. "We don't know how to fix this so we'll just jolt the brain and hope it resets in a way that looks healthy."

I would try ketamine therapy for depression before this.

Years ago a psychiatrist gave up on the early antidepressant drugs that they had. The only thing he had left to ofer was ECT (shock therapy). I'm glad now I turned him down because my real pronlem was bipolar mania, which is genetic. They have several drugs for that now (Caplyta, etc) but the side effects seem worse than the condition. Now that I finally understand it I can manage the symptoms better.

 

[Josie]

I know someone with Parkinson's who has one.