Man has been dependent on traditional medicine for a long time. However, as time passes by, researchers and even medical experts see that even the most efficient of drugs can bring unsatisfactory results. Even with months or years of continuous use of drugs, a patient may still not show the desired improvements or worse, may even develop the tendency to become immune to the drugs. This is when people tend to look for other methods of alternative treatment. This is true in cases of depression. For instance, where thirty percent of sufferers seem to become resistant to standard treatments, they have an alternative that may be helpful and effective. One of the newest, "non traditional" methods of treatment for people undergoing depression is magnetic therapy whose leading mode is called "transcranial magnetic stimulation."



Transcranial magnetic simulation (TMS) is one of the methods that have produced fairly positive results. When a patient undergoes TMS, a device is run over his or her head. This device sends electrical currents into certain parts of the brain. It is a powerful device that the magnetic pulses can even penetrate right through the skin and bone of the skull and can reach the brain's nerve cells. The pulses have to be magnetic since mere electrical ones cannot do the same penetration. According to research findings, these magnetic pulses can specifically target certain areas in the brain where the centers of depression can be found. These centers are accordingly the same centers that traditional drugs target.

Research shows that treating someone daily with TMS for a period of two weeks can result in significant improvements. For one, the patient's symptoms will be reduced by thirty percent. This is already a substantial change, especially for someone who is suffering severe depression.

Historically, magnetic therapy can be traced back to the times of the Tibetan monks. The monks are said to be huge followers and practitioners of this type of therapy.

Initially, studies on the use of magnets did not have favorable results. In order to contradict this, believers conducted small trial studies. The results showed that men felt reduced depression, however for women did not.

TMS may be a relatively "new kid on the block" and may still be classified as experimental, but there are already quite a number of clinics and medical experts that suggest this type of treatment especially for patients who have developed an immunity with regard to traditional drugs. Nowadays, researchers are even confident in saying that within ten years time, TMS may even become one of the common methods of treatment for depression.