Magnetic Therapy for Depression

The condition of depression does not only encompass various aspects of the mental being of a person, but involves the physical health, as well. It mainly deals with the thinking pattern, feeling and behavior of a person. As obvious it is, depression extensively hampers day-to-day activities and causes the affected person to develop a sheer negativity towards life. In contrast to what most may believe, this condition isn't just something that can be dealt with easily, something that can be solved with a few words of encouragement or by building up will power. It is a chronic illness of the mind and of the body, which does require a long-term treatment. And one of the effective treatment plans is what is known as the magnetic therapy.

Principle Behind the Application of Magnetic Therapy To Treat Depression
Every cell in the human body is surrounded by an electromagnetic field. Now due to certain factors, this field becomes misaligned and gives rise to various problems such as the symptoms of depression. So what magnetic therapy does is, it helps in realigning this field thus, reducing or probably curing the condition.

Types of the Therapy
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or RTMS, is one form of magnetic healing therapy that is recommended for some patients, where other depression treatments fail to respond. This technique makes use of a hand-held device. The doctor holds this device close to the head of the patient. So what this device does is, it starts stimulating those areas of the brain which are known to trigger depression. A variant of this method is the TMS or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Here, an electromagnet coil is used to carry on the treatment. The coil is placed against the scalp near the forehead. The electric currents that are produced by this method are painless and they help in stimulating certain regions of the brain. These regions are associated with depression and mood control of the person. As effective these methods may seem, they are still under study so that experts can determine their efficacy.

Possible Side Effects of the Therapy
There are instances where patients come across certain side effects post the use of the magnetic therapy. These side effects are, however, short-lived and mild in nature. The common ones include:

• Feeling lightheaded
• Slight discomfort at the scalp area, during the treatment
• Tingling sensations in the facial area
• Spasm of facial muscles
• Symptoms such as seizures, mania or hearing loss may also show up. However, these are rare.

Considerations Before Beginning the Therapy
It is important that patients must convey all information regarding their health, to their doctor so as to prevent any complications. This information could be about pregnancy, metal or implanted medical devices in their body, and history of any conditions like seizures, mania, etc.

If we go by statistics, then the use of magnetic therapy has been found useful for almost 90% of people with depression, who went under clinical trials. Some felt the effects immediately, while some took years to feel the same. So it largely depends upon the individual taking the therapy. But according to what experts say, this method could be helpful in not only dealing with the depressive symptoms, but also with the causes that are responsible for their occurrence.