This episode is dedicated to all the med studs and residents who cringe every time they have to go to journal club. I report the results of an initial trial of a special kind of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the brain that might be the future of depression treatment, at least for the treatment resistant or severe varieties.  I also use this as an opportunity to explain a little more about how repetitive TMS is usually performed (that is, its current FDA approved form), killing two dinosaurs with one asteroid.

Please leave feedback at https://www.psydactic.com or send any comments to [email protected].

References and readings (when available) are posted at the end of each episode transcript, located at psydactic.buzzsprout.com.  All opinions expressed in this podcast are exclusively those of the person speaking and should not be confused with the opinions of anyone else.  We reserve the right to be wrong.  Nothing in this podcast should be treated as individual medical advice.

I wanted to do this episode, because when I did my episodes on electroconvulsive therapy (or ECT), I feel like I sounded a tiddly-bit dismissive of it, and I wanted to clarify what I meant when I said, “TMS, short for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Brain, as of yet is not nearly as efficacious as ECT.”  If you haven’t listened to the ECT episodes, you should still be able to follow this discussion, so don’t feel left out.  I give a history of TMS development, discuss some of its approved indications, and outline  three important ways that TMS is not as effective as ECT.  I also mention some promising evidence that TMS is gaining rapidly in at least two of these ways.

Please leave feedback at https://www.psydactic.com or send any comments to [email protected].

References and readings (when available) are posted at the end of each episode transcript, located at psydactic.buzzsprout.com.  All opinions expressed in this podcast are exclusively those of the person speaking and should not be confused with the opinions of anyone else.  We reserve the right to be wrong.  Nothing in this podcast should be treated as individual medical advice.

In the last episode, I gave a brief discussion about how electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) works by causing convulsive seizures and discussed some of the proposed mechanisms by which seizures might result in benefit.  In this episode, I discuss who you should consider sending for ECT, some of the considerations for different patient populations, and how you might approach explaining to a patient that you want to electrify their skull and make them seize.

Please leave feedback at https://www.psydactic.com or send any comments to [email protected].

References and readings (when available) are posted at the end of each episode transcript, located at psydactic.buzzsprout.com.  All opinions expressed in this podcast are exclusively those of the person speaking and should not be confused with the opinions of anyone else.  We reserve the right to be wrong.  Nothing in this podcast should be treated as individual medical advice.

The mechanism of action of electroconvulsive therapy remains elusive, so I am going to describe how ECT induces seizures, discuss the evidence that ECT is not just an elaborate placebo (or in other words, inducing the seizure is what results in the therapeutic benefit), and then briefly discuss some of the many proposed mechanisms by which it might work.

Please leave feedback at https://www.psydactic.com or send any comments to [email protected].

References and readings (when available) are posted at the end of each episode transcript, located at psydactic.buzzsprout.com.  All opinions expressed in this podcast are exclusively those of the person speaking and should not be confused with the opinions of anyone else.  We reserve the right to be wrong.  Nothing in this podcast should be treated as individual medical advice.

A brief and exciting history of electroconvulsive therapy.  You will learn how a method for anesthetizing pigs before slaughter was first used on a homeless and psychotic man and how it soon became the gold standard treatment for severe mood disorders.

Please leave feedback at https://www.psydactic.com or send any comments to [email protected].

References and readings (when available) are posted at the end of each episode transcript, located at psydactic.buzzsprout.com.  All opinions expressed in this podcast are exclusively those of the person speaking and should not be confused with the opinions of anyone else.  We reserve the right to be wrong.  Nothing in this podcast should be treated as individual medical advice.

Dr. O'Leary explains what inspired him to start this podcast, where the first episodes will take you, and why you should be skeptical of everything he says.

Please leave feedback at https://www.psydactic.com or send any comments to [email protected].

References and readings (when available) are posted at the end of each episode transcript, located at psydactic.buzzsprout.com.  All opinions expressed in this podcast are exclusively those of the person speaking and should not be confused with the opinions of anyone else.  We reserve the right to be wrong.  Nothing in this podcast should be treated as individual medical advice.