FAQs – Anxiety & Depression
Some common questions you might have about the Montreal Neurotherapy Center.
Anxiety is a normal physiological response to a stressful or dangerous experience. Anxiety is a normal mind & body response to many type of stressful or uncommon experience. (e.g.: having to address a public, personals problems at work , when taking important decisions or others…). Anxiety can even trigger in the anticipation of similar situations.
Some of the usual body reactions are:
- Racing heart
- Feeling not in control or even fear
- Problems falling asleep
- Sweaty palms
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Agitation
- Shortness of breath
- Body fluids get displaced in your body (can cause dry throat and the throat muscles to tighten, blushing, turning white)
When individuals are subject or feel abnormal level of anxiety they can became overwhelm. If anxiety is modifying your way or life on a regular basis you probably suffer of some kind of anxiety disorders. If anxiety is modifying your way or life on a regular basis you probably suffer of some kind of anxiety disorders
This is where you need to consult specialists to avoid persistent phobias or fear that can really diminished your quality of life and bring, at long term, serious physical problems.
When you are exposed to repetitive Stress and Anxiety for long period of time you can develop serious health issues.
Even if stress and anxiety are an absolutely normal response of the mind and body to many type of unusual experience or situations, some people can develop acute anxiety disorders. Theses disorders can turn in extreme phobias and out of control fears and unwanted comportment or feeling. Being subject to long period of anxiety can damage your relation with others, influx on your work and your own life, psychologically and even open on a really serious cortege of mental and physical illness.
If you answer “Yes” to any of the following questions, you may suffer of an anxiety disorder:
- Are you feeling stressed and anxious most of the time or at close interval
- Your sleep pattern are constantly affected by anxious thought and feeling
- You are overcome by irrational fears & sudden panic attack
- Multiple, close anxiety episodes leave you with cramps or muscle pain and tightness
- You constantly have digestive problems within or outside anxiety episodes intervals
- Abnormally Intense stage frights and/or social phobia
- You are insecure and self-conscious in everyday conversation or for no reason (Blushing, hot & cold flash, trembling…)
- Flashback of difficult or traumatic moment of your life where you feel vulnerable, uncomfortable or scared
All these situations are clues that you may be experiencing a level of stress potentially harmful to your health. Please, consult your doctor or a specialist (Like Us!) right away!
Transcranial Magnetic stimulation TMS was first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2008 for the treatment of major depression.
In 2010, Many clinical research and experience suggest that it may also be effective for anxiety.
—> Results showed a 60{7480a6eb27a575b017a99ee38072ae5cc37058d01f947955a98f78b14da0909c} response rate and a 60{7480a6eb27a575b017a99ee38072ae5cc37058d01f947955a98f78b14da0909c} remission rate
rTMS therapy was also approved by Health Canada for clinical delivery in Canada.
At the Montreal Neurotherapy Center we are treating Anxiety Disorders with medication, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) or a combination of the two. We also use advanced qEEG technology and other state of the art proven techniques and treatments.
Combined with the traditional physical and chemical assessments and treatments Our highly specialized Staff and partners will examine your complete psychological profile.
We also use multiple advanced techniques like qEEG brain mapping technology to analyse and pinpoint the brain activity that is causing your anxiety, your breathing and heart variability rate and other markers that will permit us to build a complete personalized training program.
We also use Neurofeedback sessions, Neuromodulation, Meditation and Psychotherapy to train your brain to regulate itself to stay in a more calm, focused state.
Talk Therapy and Medication are often used as the first line of treatment for depression. A therapist can a help you create strategies to identify and avoid any triggers that exacerbate your depression.
Medications that are commonly used to treat depression include:
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs.
These typically have less side effects than other types of antidepressants.
— Fluoxetine (Prozac), Sertraline (Zoloft), and Escitalopram (Lexapro) all fit into this category.
Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, or SNRIs.
—These include Duloxetine (Cymbalta) and Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq).
Tricyclic antidepressants.
These antidepressants can be very effective, but cause more severe side effects. They’re often used if you haven’t responded to other medications.
—These include Imipramine (Tofranil) and Nortriptyline (Pamelor).
rTMS has been recognized to be an extremely safe, well-tolerated treatment. Patients doesn’t required any type of anesthesia or other medication. rTMS can be administered as an outpatient procedure.
Common side effects can include headache, scalp discomfort and facial muscle twitching. These side effects are mild and generally resolve soon after a treatment session. Some of the discomfort can be somewhat reduced, just by modifying the placement & distance of the coil.
Most patients find side effects reduce in intensity and frequency as the course of TMS progresses. Also rTMS side effects are NOT ASSOCIATED to the various, sometimes important side-effects caused by traditional antidepressant medications.
A course of 30 sessions given over consecutive weekdays is recommended for effective therapeutic results. This can vary from patient to patient as many factors are to be considerate and tailor to each individual depending on the nature and severity of the problem and the individual response to the treatment.
At the Montreal Neurotherapy Center we will develop a personalized course of treatment base on an in-depth assessment that can be readjusted to the patient progress. rTMS therapy involves a sequence of treatment sessions. A Session duration is around 30 – 40 minutes.
Some patients may notice changes after only several days of treatment! If possible, We recommend 2 to 4 sessions a day.
An evidence base of over 30 randomized controlled trials involving a placebo-control (sham stimulation) has demonstrated that rTMS has efficacy in the treatment of depression.
“Effect size from a recent meta-analysis of the active-sham comparison was 0.55.”
Slotema et al, 2010
Thus, rTMS should be considered an effective treatment for depression. If Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) works for you, your depression symptoms may improve or go away completely.
Note: Symptom relief may take a few weeks of treatment.
Yes, We have been using it for the last 10 years on more than 400 patients.
How Does rTMS Work?
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) is a technique that uses powerful, focused magnetic field pulses to stimulate the neurons of the brain. There are many different stimulation patterns that can be used for rTMS, each with slightly different effects on brain activity. For example, higher frequency stimulation increases activity in the brain to help decrease symptoms of depression.
