A NEW non-invasive treatment approach that is suitable for drug addiction, chronic depression, migraine, schizophrenia, sleep problems, anxiety and series of mental health illnesses is now available in Nigeria and West Africa. It is estimated that globally 121 million people suffer from clinical depression. Out of these, 48 million are Nigerians. But despite extensive psychotherapeutic and pharmacological medical care approaches, many patients of mental illnesses continue to suffer while the burden on the health care system increases.
Experts say out of the millions affected by mental illnesses worldwide, 20 to 40 percent are resistant to pharmacological antidepressant treatments while another 33 percent show poor response.
Many medications are associated with significant adverse effects (eg, weight gain, sexual dysfunction), and a recognized need for better options for treatment-resistant depression is paramount.
This need appears to have been found in the latest global advancement in drug addiction management, that works through electronic brain stimulation provided by an innovative medical device known as the Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or rTMS. Previously available only in South Africa and Egypt, the rTMS, is non-invasive (no surgery), and has no unwanted side effects.