Source: Good News Network
While there may not be any concrete treatments for blocking suicidal thoughts, there may be hope on the horizon for a new non-invasive treatment that can erase the impulses altogether.
A specific kind of magnetic brain stimulation has been found effective in reducing suicidal thinking in a significant portion of people with hard-to-treat depression, according to this new study.
The research, which was conducted by the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), found that 40% of people in the study no longer experienced suicidal thoughts after receiving bilateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS).
“This is one of the first large studies showing rTMS is effective in treating suicidal ideation,” says Dr. Jeff Daskalakis, senior author of the study. “The effects on suicidal ideation were independent of effects on depressive symptoms.”
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The promising findings give hope that, with further evidence, rTMS may offer a new way to prevent suicide in people with hard-to-treat depression, as well as other mental illnesses.
Suicidal thinking can occur in several mental illnesses, including post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder. It’s estimated that about 90% of people who die by suicide have a mental illness. While medications and psychotherapy are effective treatments for many people with mental illnesses, there’s an urgent need for new treatments that quickly and specifically reverse suicidal thinking.
“One of the only effective treatments for suicidal ideation is electroconvulsive therapy or ECT,” says Dr. Daskalakis. “While ECT is the most effective treatment in psychiatric care, it’s rarely used, because of high…
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