Why More Doctors Are Recommending TMS for Anxiety and Panic Disorders
76% of young adults in California reported experiencing anxiety in 2022. With 43% of adults feeling more anxious this year than in 2023, it is evident anxiety is a concern in our state and country as a whole.
Some individuals can find relief from their anxiety through traditional psychotherapy or strategies like mindfulness and meditation. Medication may also prove beneficial. For others, however, they have little success with these options, or they’d like to try something different.
An alternative is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). People can find relief through TMS for mental health conditions like anxiety and panic disorders. This therapy modality is capable of treating even the most severe aspects of these conditions. While it may not suit everyone, it is a promising choice that anyone managing an anxiety disorder should know about.
We utilize TMS for anxiety and panic disorders regularly at BNI Clinics, and we’ll share what we know.
The Case for TMS Treatment for Anxiety Disorders
Several conditions fall under the “anxiety disorder” umbrella. These include generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and social phobia. Panic disorder, which we’ll talk about more in-depth shortly, is also a type of anxiety disorder.
The FDA approved TMS to treat OCD in 2018 and to treat anxiety in individuals with treatment-resistant depression in 2021. This indicates the FDA saw enough evidence to consider TMS a safe and viable treatment option. While they haven’t approved TMS for anxiety alone yet, that doesn’t mean it is ineffective or unsafe.
A 2019 meta-analysis of 32 studies on TMS for anxiety concluded it is effective in reducing symptoms. While a few studies showed no marked difference in anxiety, the majority showed a noticeable improvement. Many participants in the studies found significant relief from their anxiety. In 24 studies that reported side effects of TMS, only one person had a seizure. All other side effects were mild.
TMS Treatment for Panic Disorder and Evidence of Its Efficacy
Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by frequent panic attacks. Panic attacks are moments of immense fear and terror disproportionate to the situation. Symptoms may also include:
- A feeling of impending doom
- Fears that you will die
- Fast heart rate
- Sweating
- Tremors
- Difficulty breathing
- Chest pain
- Stomach discomfort
Anyone can have a panic attack. People with panic disorder experience them often. Their lives are impacted by both the panic attacks and the person’s desire to avoid having more of them.
Because panic attacks are the result of overwhelming anxiety, methods of TMS that reduce unspecified anxiety will frequently benefit individuals with panic disorder. However, there are studies that focus on TMS’s efficacy for panic disorder independently as well.
One study showed that 50% of participants experienced reduced panic symptoms after 4 weeks of TMS. After 8 weeks, that number increased to 67%. These improvements were maintained at the six-month follow-up.
A case study following a woman who experienced 6 panic attacks per week for a year also yielded positive results for TMS. She reduced her symptoms significantly after only 2 weeks of the treatment.
How TMS Combats Anxiety and Panic Disorders in Practice
TMS is a non-invasive therapy involving a magnetic coil and magnetic pulses. The magnetic coil is placed against the participant’s head, and pulses are triggered periodically.
There are many different forms of TMS, depending on what the coil is like and the nature of the pulses. Coils may be shaped differently to stimulate more areas in the brain, and pulses may be more frequent or at different times. Exactly what TMS treatment looks like depends on the individual and their concerns.
The goal of TMS in every case is to stimulate underactive areas of the brain, and better regulate over-active ones. It achieves this by influencing the natural electricity and magnetic field in your brain’s neurons.
The area typically stimulated in TMS treatment for anxiety is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which plays a key part in emotional regulation. TMS may calm activity in the amygdala, the “fear center” of the brain, by extension. This frequently reduces symptoms of anxiety.
How to Know if TMS Treatment in Los Angeles Is Right for You
If you or your loved one have tried other treatment options for anxiety without results, there is still hope. TMS is a promising tool in subduing symptoms of anxiety and panic disorder. This is especially true if medication and traditional psychotherapy haven’t brought the relief you’re searching for.
TMS is non-invasive, safe, and proven effective in many cases. It’s worth discussing with your healthcare provider. It could significantly improve your quality of life.
BNI Clinics is located in Los Angeles, California. We provide mental health care for all ages, including psychological testing, medication management, individual and group therapy, and TMS, among many other offerings. Our practice is owned and operated by physicians and board-certified psychiatrists, so you can trust that your family’s mental health will be in expert hands. Contact us at (310) 691-5005 for more on how we can help.
BNI Clinics: Science-based, evidence-backed, compassion-led.
