I'm staying alive for my dog and my cat

[crimycarny]

50. Thank you so much

We have a real problem in our society and even our medical community in the way we think of mental illness. It's the only human disease I know of that is viewed as somehow "fixable" by the very organ that is causing it. Telling someone suffering from depression to somehow magically change their thoughts to more positive, less anxiety, etc. is like telling someone suffering from an asthma attack to 'just breathe'.

It was on DU that I learned about the Stanford SAINT study, now approved by the FDA. (Unfortunately too late for my son.) It's a targeted form of TMS that uses an MRI to get the exact area of the brain to treat. It also uses stronger magnetic pulses and over a shorter period of time. Stanford observed an 80% remission in major depression (MDD), and with no drugs (most in the study were treatment-resistant). Stanford found that in 75% of those suffering MDD, the flow of information between two key areas responsible for the sense of well-being was literally reversed from the brains of those not suffering from MDD. After the TMS treatments that flow was restored back to normal and people felt an immediate relief. One man in his 60s who went through the study said he noticed when he was walking his dog that he felt a sense of contentment and peace, something he had never felt before in his entire life.

That study, to me anyway, proves it's an organic issue going on in the brain, not the "fault" of the person suffering feelings of despondency, self-loathing, and the other horrible symptoms that go along with depression. We need to study depression like we do cancer or any other human disease.

Sorry for the long post. I appreciate you giving me your perspective as someone who suffers from depression.