Introduction Magnetic seizure therapy (MST), as the name implies, is a treatment that involves the induction of therapeutic seizures generated through magnetic fields. The impetus for developing this treatment was the goal of achieving comparable therapeutic effects to ECT, while…
Introduction Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the oldest biologic treatment in psychiatry still in use and continues to play a crucial role in the management of treatment-resistant depression (TRD). ECT has been shown to be significantly more effective than pharmacotherapy in…
Introduction Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) technique, whereby a subthreshold, continuous electrical current (typically 1–2 mA) is applied to the brain via two or more electrodes, placed over the scalp ( ). The conventional tDCS device…
Introduction Although diverse treatments are currently available for depression, one class of treatments that holds significant promise, especially for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in the near future, is neuromodulation. This growing category of treatment techniques includes interventions, either electrical, chemical, or…
Introduction Almost 70% of depressed individuals do not adequately respond to common antidepressants and need multiple therapeutic trials in order to achieve a full remission. Furthermore, according to the STAR*D study, patients who need more trials had the greatest risk…
Introduction Increasing data indicate that the immune system in general and inflammation in particular may play a role in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders including depression and anxiety ( ). These data include evidence of low-grade inflammation in subgroups of…
Acknowledgments Effort for authors was provided by The Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research which is funded by the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation, Tim Ferriss, Matt Mullenweg, Craig Nerenberg, and Blake Mycoskie, and by NIH grant T32DA07209. Introduction Classic…
Introduction In recent years, ketamine, its individual enantiomers, and related compounds have been a major focus of research and clinical development for the treatment of depression. With the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approval of esketamine for the…
Financial disclosures As discussed in Chapter 1 , it is helpful to define treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Although one defines treatment resistance, it is clear that this is a very significant clinical problem. We now know from multiple randomized controlled clinical…
Overview The problem of nonresponse to antidepressant medications is essentially as old as this area of therapeutics: Even during the 1960s and 1970s, it was known that the likelihood of response to a tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) was far from certain,…