Transcranial magnetic stimulation used for depression treatment | Health – WCVB Home.
Thomasina Bedingfield has battled major depression for 50 years and dealt with endless failed treatments.
“When I was 22, they were giving me tranquilizers,” said Bedingfield.
“She was taking a number of medications, but despite that was still very anxious, having trouble functioning, crying all the time,” said Dr. Barry Ginsberg, chief of psychiatry at Beverly Hospital, a member of Lahey Health.
But thanks to a new treatment called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or TMS therapy, the 71-year-old can finally say she’s happy.
“It involves stimulating a particular area of the brain with a rapidly pulsating, strong magnetic field,” said Ginsberg.
That area, the left, prefrontal cortex, is believed to regulate mood, and when someone’s depressed, isn’t as active as it should be. Continue reading
“Depression for me,” Elaine said. “I describe it like being in a pit. A deep, dark pit.”


A new clinical study finds that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is an effective treatment for patients with