Latest Breakthroughs in Mental Health Treatment

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Mental health issues have been the bane of human existence for centuries. However, it wasn't until the mid-twentieth century that the medical communities were able to recognize the differences between real mental health disorders and disorders that were manufactured by earlier century doctors to explain away patient behaviors and problems. The stigma of mental health problems even remained an issue until about twenty years ago when a movement to stop stigmatizing people with mental health problems began.

Now there are dozens of medications that help patients and several other forms of treatment that can be added to medication to help a patient get better and feel better. Some of the most recent breakthroughs in treatments for mental health disorders are quite surprising, but they are showing real promise.

The Use of Magnetic Pulses

Magnetic pulses are a kinder, gentler upgrade from electroshock therapy. The headgear may look similar, but TMS (or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) doesn't use electricity at all. Instead, it uses amplified magnetic waves in a pulse formation delivered to a patient's skull through nodes attached to the headgear. Patients may feel a pulsing sensation but hardly notice much else.

Doctors are using TMS for OCD treatment as well as depression. Transcranial magnetic stimulation treats those who are not adequately responding to medication and other forms of treatment. The way it works is that these patients' brain cells are being stimulated by the magnetic frequency to alter their ability to receive or block the biochemical agents contributing to impulsivity or depressed feelings.

Ketamine

Ketamine is both a controlled substance and a street drug. Commonly referred to as "special k" on the black market, ketamine as a prescribed medication showing promise for people who are disabled by their OCD, bi-polar, and depression disorders. Because of its initial hallucinogenic effects, the drug is first administered under the watch of the prescribing doctor to see how it will affect the patient.

After the hallucinations wear off, these patients typically reach normal levels of daily functioning that can last for up to two weeks. Patients receive a prescription, but a doctor administers the dose, and most patients have to spend an evening in the hospital until the hallucinations wear off. The patient remains until they are safe to release on their own recognizance.

A new form of ketamine is being tested and possibly released to the public. It's in the form of a nasal spray. A single squirt up each nostril and the patient is good to go with few side effects.

Anti-Glutamate Drugs

The International OCD Foundation has determined that one-third of all patients suffering from OCD and depression share a unique link. This link has to do with the high levels of glutamate in their brains. These are the same people that are resistant to most medications for treating their mental health disorders.

The Foundation's research supports the idea that if anti-glutamate drugs were developed and used, these particular patients with depression and OCD could finally find some relief in their symptomatology and disorders. The research and development of these drugs continues and may be ready for testing in the next few years.