It’s estimated that one-third of all adolescents and adults struggle with anxiety that’s severe enough to qualify as an anxiety disorder. At Even Better Mood Clinic in Irvine, California, George Tun, MD, and his team have helped many patients overcome anxiety, including anxiety that doesn’t respond to conservative treatment, with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). To learn more about TMS therapy for anxiety, call the office or schedule an appointment online.
You can’t escape anxiety. It’s a natural mechanism designed to alert your brain to danger, triggering the release of hormones and energizing your body so you can face the threat or escape. This is the classic fight-or-flight response that’s hardwired into your biochemistry.
When the threat is gone, your anxiety disappears, and your hormone levels return to normal. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. If you have an anxiety disorder, however, your fears and worries don’t go away, and hormone levels stay high.
Constantly being on high alert only fuels an ongoing cycle of anxiety that takes a serious toll on your mental health and puts your physical health at risk.
There are more than 10 recognized anxiety disorders, with a few of the most common being generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and specific phobias.
Each type has symptoms that set it apart from the others. As a group, however, anxiety disorders cause symptoms such as:
Many patients become hypervigilant, constantly anticipating people and places that make them anxious. Then they purposefully avoid those circumstances, creating habits that increasingly restrict their daily lives.
Anxiety is typically treated with psychotherapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, an approach that teaches you how to change your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to reduce your anxiety. Your provider may also prescribe one of several medications to alleviate your symptoms.
The team at Even Better Mood Clinic offers an effective option for relieving anxiety without medication: TMS. This treatment uses magnetic pulses to activate neurons, boost neurotransmitters, and reduce anxiety.
During your treatment, you relax in a chair while the TMS device is gently placed against your head. When the machine is turned on, magnetic pulses travel through your scalp to reach the targeted brain area.
You may feel a light tapping against your head or hear clicking sounds, but the treatment isn’t painful. One session takes about 20-30 minutes, and most patients have five daily treatments for 4-8 weeks.
With TMS, your provider can program your settings so the machine calibrates the right position and exactly replicates the same treatment at every session.
To learn if you’re a good candidate for anxiety treatment with TMS, call Even Better Mood Clinic or book an appointment online.