It's a treatment that takes place in what looks like a dentist's chair and when it works patients who have been suffering from depression for years can start feeling better in weeks.
For five years, David Kressin has battled major depression.
"I don't leave my room. I just might be there staring out the window," he noted.
Seven medications later, Kressin discovered Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or what's called R.T.M.S. It's a device that beams magnetic pulses through the skull.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the treatment based on a clinical trial of 300 depression patients where, as 12 percent of those people given placebos showed improvement, R.T.M.S. doubled those results and here locally:
"Conservatively about 60 percent of our patients are materially improved not just a little bit better, but materially improved," explained doctor Ted Mohns.
Although psychiatrist, Doctor Mohns expects R.T.M.S. to be a depression game-changer in the future, currently the treatment is not covered by insurance and where as many practices charge $6,000 to $10,000 for a series of treatments, Doctor Mohn's prices are significantly lower.
"I'm not saying we are a bunch of do-gooders here. We have to stay in the black, but it's not our intent to maximize the revenue here," said Doctor Mohn.
"For me, it feels good. I like the little tapping feeling I get from my scalp from it," Kressin said.
Although some patients complain of headaches, Kressin says for him the treatments are helpful and painfree.
"It's been really effective particularly when my mood swings down to come in and get some R.T.M.S. treatment and get some immediate relief," continued Kressin.
The National Institutes of Health is conducting an independent study on R.T.M.S. They're tracking 260 patients, with results expected to be out early next year.
Patients need a doctor's prescription to undergo magnetic treatment.
