Psychiatrist and Director of the Bipolar Clinic and Research Program at Massachusetts General looks at the three new alternate—deemed miraculous—treatments for depression: ECT, Ketamine, and TMS. Depression has been recognized as a very serious illness of the brain, affecting eleven million people in this country alone and 300 million people worldwide. Depression ruins lives, careers, families, and love of life. But help is on the way. We often think of pharmaceutical treatments at the best way to treat depression, but the truth is that they either don't work or lose their efficacy for a third to half of all people with clinical depression. But now there are three alternative treatments coming to the forefront: electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), ketamine, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Curing people of depression is Dr. Michael Henry's life's work. As one of the foremost doctors in ECT, Dr. Henry sets out to show readers that these three treatments, which are fraught with stereotypes and mystery, are actually miraculous (and proven to to be so). Often, they can serve as a "brain reboot" to get trusted medications to start working again. While these are not treatments you can do yourself--nor are they always easy to obtain--Dr. Henry sheds light where they made be none, offers sufferers options, and looks to the future of depression treatment. Brain Reboot provides a balanced, evidence-based, yet humanized guide to these three treatments. It also focuses on the practical steps people need to take to get these treatments, as well as how family and friends can support someone undergoing treatment, and discusses emerging technology that is complementary to treatment. About the Author: Dr. Michael Henry is the director of the ECT service at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA and a professor and lecturer at Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, MA, and a fellowship in clinical pharmacology at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, and the International Society for ECT and Neurostimulation, and is a Fellow of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He has presented his work treating patients with these three treatments both nationally and internationally. |