Procedures to treat depression

If medications and psychotherapy aren't working, you may want to talk to a psychiatrist about additional treatment options:

• Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). This type of treatment uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of depression. An electromagnetic coil is placed against your scalp near your forehead. The electromagnet used in rTMS creates electric currents that stimulate nerve cells in the region of your brain involved in mood control and depression. Typically, this treatment is delivered over 30-minute sessions in rapid bursts. This treatment can now be delivered over briefer sessions with dosing called intermittent theta burst stimulation.
• Ketamine is a medication that's delivered through an IV in low doses. It's used for rapid relief of hard-to-treat depressive symptoms and its effects can last from days to weeks. Usually it's given in decreasing frequencies over several weeks. The FDA approved an intranasal form called esketamine that's given in a physician's office or a clinic under the supervision of a health care provider to monitor for possible serious side effects and because of the potential for abuse and misuse. Esketamine is for adults who have tried at least two other antidepressant medications that did not adequately control symptoms. Ketamine and esketamine work in the brain in a different way than standard antidepressants, and each is typically used along with an oral antidepressant.
• Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). While you're asleep, a carefully measured dose of electricity is passed through your brain, intentionally triggering a small, brief seizure. ECT seems to cause changes in brain chemistry that can relatively quickly reverse symptoms of major depression. Although there are potential side effects, such as temporary confusion or temporary memory loss, a series of ECT treatments may provide significant relief of severe depression.
• Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). Generally, VNS is only tried after other brain stimulation therapies such as ECT and rTMS have not been successful in improving symptoms of depression. VNS stimulates the vagus nerve with electrical impulses. This treatment uses a device implanted in your chest that's connected by a wire to a nerve in your neck (vagus nerve). Electrical signals from the implant travel along the vagus nerve to the mood centers of the brain, which may improve depression symptoms.

Be sure to find out whether your insurance covers any treatment that's recommended.