Depression is a mental disorder characterized by unhappy moods and low interest in activities the person once enjoyed. Also referred to as major depression or called clinical depression, it affects how you behave and feel and can cause various physical and emotional problems. You may not be able to perform your daily tasks, and sometimes you may feel that life is not worth living.
Treatments for depression
- Behaviour Therapy- To achieve change, there must be some stakes and trackable progress. Following this process includes discovering personal rewards and weaknesses. Once you understand them, you can practice them until they feel natural. In essence, you make good behaviors and are aware of negative behaviors.
- Interpersonal Therapy- This treatment option focuses on specific events and interactions. When the problem only occurs in a selected environment or causes the problem, the therapy explores the “how” and “why”.
- Cognitive Therapy- Cognitive therapy focuses on the interaction between thoughts and emotions.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: You work hard to build the way you think and behave. The two elements of cognition and behavior guide your life.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy-A modified method of CBT, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, is based on the principle of opposition.
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy- Associated with meditation, MBCT allows you to focus on the present without allowing past experiences or future consequences to inappropriately guide your current feelings.
- Psychodynamic Therapy- Entering the subconscious and unconscious realms, psychodynamic therapy focuses on what you don’t know you know.
Other methods
These are psychotherapeutic methods developed to treat depression. The following are some of the biomechanical methods used to improve psychotherapy.
- Drugs- Antidepressants include a combination of mood enhancers and chemical stimulants. Diet and exercise also help regulate neurochemical balance.
- Electroconvulsive therapy-Severe symptoms stem from imbalances and problems in the receptor. As a treatment method, ECT uses specific impulses to improve mood.
- Repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation-This treatment, known as rTMS, is like ECT using magnets instead of electric shocks. You will also find that rTMS is used to treat migraines and epilepsy.
What is the theta-burst style?
Theta burst Stimulation or TBS is a newer, more powerful, and even more effective form of TMS, now actually mimicking the natural endogenous “theta rhythm” of the human brain to evoke very affective arousal. Theta is the frequency our brain uses when learning new things or adapting to a new environment, making TBS therapy superior to previous forms of TMS in treating major depression.
Similar to TMS, Theta Burst therapy is easy and does not involve injecting or incising your body. The Theta Burst Protocol provides stimulation in a unique mode, rapidly stimulating the brain in a shorter period. The standard 40 minute TMS treatment is now significantly reduced to a 3 minute TBS treatment.
It is also considered a safer and more tolerated treatment than traditional TMS because it has a much lower intensity of operation but has the same or possibly better efficacy. TBS is safe and effective; not only is it a new generation of TMS but it is also described as a huge step forward.
Theta Burst Protocol, which uses high frequency (50 Hz) short-term rapid theta pulse stimulation, tends to mimic the circadian rhythm of the human brain. It involves the brain’s plasticity mechanism, responsible for producing positive effects and possibly more durable, which can be translated into obtaining a higher remission rate in the treatment of depression.
The good news is that the TBS treatment is now FDA approved, so your insurance may cover it. The cost of standalone TBS treatment is significantly more affordable than conventional TMS treatment, although it has the same or even better efficacy due to its shorter duration.
Two types of Theta burst Stimulation
It currently offers this protocol in two forms.
Continuous Theta burst stimulation (cTBS) Continuous (cTBS) provides a series of uninterrupted bursts and has been shown to induce a long-term depression-like reduction (LTD) in cortical excitability and preferentially reduce I1 waves. CTBS requires only 20 seconds of uninterrupted bursts or 300 pulses to produce 20 minutes of suppression, while 1 Hz rTMS requires at least 20 minutes of stimulation to obtain the same results.
- Intermittent Theta burst stimulation (iTBS)
Intermittent (iTBS) provides a two-second burst (30 pulses) that repeats every 10 seconds. ITBS has been shown to cause long-term enhancement-type (LTP) effects on cortical excitability. Stimulation of the motor cortex may have a promoting effect. Continue stimulation for at least 15 minutes, preferably increasing I2 and I3 waves.
Comparison between Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and Theta burst stimulation (TBS)
Major depression (MDD) is a common debilitating disease, and only one-third of patients achieve remission after the first antidepressant treatment. There is a requirement to find more effective and more tolerable treatment options due to the ineffectiveness of current treatment strategies. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive method to manipulate brain activity and change cortical excitability. The use of repeated forms of TMS (rTMS) to treat patients with depression has been studied for more than 15 years, showing that it is an effective antidepressant treatment.
Although rTMS treatment is effective in treating depression, the response varies greatly among individuals. A newer form of the rTMS protocol, called theta-burst stimulation (TBS), has been shown to have similar or even greater effects on brain activity than standard rTMS. The TBS protocol has significant advantages over the standard rTMS method in terms of shortening the duration of management.
The traditional rTMS procedure takes 20 to 45 minutes, compared to the TBS paradigm, requiring 1 to 3 minutes of stimulation. Recently, some studies have shown that compared to rTMS, TBS has similar or better efficacy in treating depression. If you want to develop further in a shorter time, you need to optimize, identify response predictors, and clarify the neurobiological mechanism of TBS.
Hence, the depression treatment using the theta-burst style is effective as per the latest researches. It has several advantages over traditional depression treatments. Have you recommended it to any of your treatment-resistant companions who are suffering from depression?