Mmm... transcranial magnetic stimulation...

For the first time in a large-scale study, transcranial magnetic stimulation has been shown to be an effective, non-drug treatment for major depression. Current antidepressant therapies are not beneficial for at least a third of depressed individuals, leaving many with a lack of adequate treatment options. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a non-invasive technique that excites neurons in the brain by magnetic pulses introduced through the scalp, has previously been identified as a potential new treatment for depression but prior, smaller studies have shown conflicting results. This new study, published in the December 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, now shares its findings.

O’Reardon and colleagues present the results from the first large scale, multi-center, double-blind, sham-controlled study of TMS as a treatment for people with depression who had not responded to prior antidepressants and who were not taking antidepressant medications during the study. After 4-6 weeks of active or sham TMS, response and remission rates with active TMS were approximately twice those of sham. This study was also associated with a low dropout rate, due to generally mild side effects, indicating that the treatment was well-tolerated by patients.

Reading this brought to mind a few different devices that circulated through the psychedelic community at various points in the early to mid '90s (the Mondo 2000) years, which always seemed like quackery to me and whose names I can't recall. Maybe someday, though, you'll start seeing hand-held units surfacing on Gizmodo that cheer you up without the unpleasant side effects caused by a regimen of actual meds...