Mental health treatment has significantly improved over the decades, and many have found a path to wellness through medications, therapy, and other proven care strategies.
But that’s not the story for everyone.
Many people with mental health problems struggle to find a treatment that addresses their symptoms. If you’re one of them, our team at Revived Soul Medical P.C., wants you to know about deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS), an FDA-approved treatment that has brought hope and healing to people with treatment-resistant mental health issues.
Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation, or dTMS, is a noninvasive treatment that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in targeted areas of your brain.
During treatment, you wear a specialized helmet that contains a patented coil system. This device delivers brief magnetic pulses that pass through your scalp and skull without surgery or anesthesia.
The treatment doesn’t harm brain tissue. Instead, it encourages healthy brain activity in areas linked to mood, behavior, and emotional regulation.
Certain mental health conditions are associated with changes in brain activity and communication between different brain regions.
For example, those with major depressive disorder often show reduced activity in parts of the brain responsible for mood regulation, motivation, and decision-making. Other mental health conditions, like anxiety, may involve disruptions in the brain’s communication networks.
Noninvasive dTMS stimulates these underactive areas and supports healthier neural activity. Over time, this stimulation may help the brain function more effectively and reduce symptoms.
Deep TMS uses the same basic scientific principle as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The device generates magnetic pulses that create small electrical currents within targeted brain tissue. These currents activate neurons, which are the cells responsible for sending and receiving information throughout the brain.
Think of it like exercising a muscle. Repeated stimulation encourages brain cells and neural pathways to function more efficiently. As treatment continues, the brain can begin forming stronger, healthier patterns of activity.
This process — known as neuroplasticity — is the brain’s ability to adapt and reorganize itself.
Traditional repetitive TMS (rTMS) and dTMS both use magnetic stimulation, but dTMS uses a specialized coil design that reaches broader and deeper brain regions compared to rTMS.
This expanded reach allows us to target neural networks involved in complex mental health conditions while maintaining your comfort and safety.
Because mental health disorders often involve multiple interconnected brain regions, treating broader networks may help improve outcomes for many of our patients.
The FDA has cleared dTMS for several mental health and neurological conditions, including:
Researchers continue to study dTMS for additional mental health conditions, and ongoing studies are expanding our understanding of how brain stimulation may help people who haven’t responded to other treatments.
A typical dTMS session takes about 20 minutes.
You remain awake and alert throughout your session, while sitting comfortably in our treatment chair. We place the helmet on your head, and once we turn it on, you’ll hear clicking sounds as the magnetic pulses are delivered.
Most patients describe the sensation as a tapping feeling on the scalp. Because the treatment doesn’t require sedation, you can usually drive yourself to and from appointments and return to normal activities afterward.
This kind of brain stimulation works gradually. While some patients notice improvement within a few weeks, many experience benefits after the course of a full treatment series.
The treatment is designed to create lasting changes in brain activity over time, so consistency is important. We typically recommend a structured dTMS treatment schedule based on your diagnosis, symptom severity, and treatment history.
Mental health conditions — especially those that haven’t improved with traditional treatments — often involve real changes in brain function, which is why treatments that directly target brain activity can be so effective for some patients.
If you’re struggling with depression, OCD, or another qualifying condition, our team can help determine whether dTMS may be an appropriate part of your treatment plan.
Call or click online to schedule an appointment at your nearest Revived Soul Medical P.C. office in Brooklyn, New York, today. We have one office in Midwood, and another in Brighton Beach.
