BISMARCK, ND (KFYR) – Transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy has been around for a while as an alternative treatment for conditions like depression, but Dr. Tara Harding of Simply You Wellness said it’s not widely used in our state.

Sometimes it can feel like you’ve tried almost every medication available to treat your mental health disorder. Psychiatric mental health nurse Madison Kirsch said that’s where NeuroStar comes in; those who feel they have tried traditional therapies without success have another option.

“Basically, it’s sending magnetic pulses into the brain to re-ignite the synapses, where in depression, they found that some of those areas of the brain are ‘sleeping,’ let’s just call it that. So it’s basically reawakening those pathways that sometimes drugs can’t do,” Kirsch said.

She said it’s not painful and it’s not invasive. Dr. Harding said that while this is the second NeuroStar machine in a clinic in North Dakota, it is the first FDA-approved treatment of its kind for teenagers to make its way here. Patients sit in the chair with the accessory attached for three to 18 minutes, five days a week, for a total of seven weeks.

“It might sound like a lot, but we’re comparing it to chemotherapy for cancer. We call it ‘physical therapy for the brain,’ and once they do these treatments, 60 percent go into remission and many are able to get off the medication completely,” Dr. Harding said.

In addition to depression, NeuroStar can be used to treat conditions such as PTSD and OCD. Dr. Harding said most insurance companies cover this type of treatment and you don’t need a referral to make an appointment.

You can call Simply You Wellness in Bismarck to see if NeuroStar is a good option for you.

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