rTMS for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
rTMS for Anxiety Disorders
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) involves experiencing repetitive, intrusive thoughts, urges, or images that cause anxiety. These obsessions may be unwanted or recognized as irrational but are often uncontrollable. To cope, individuals engage in compulsions—repetitive behaviours or mental actions they feel compelled to perform. For instance, obsessive thoughts about contamination might lead to excessive cleaning. Patients with OCD often struggle with significant disruptions in their daily lives due to these behaviours. An emerging treatment option, rTMS for obsessive compulsive disorder, is offering hope to many. By targeting brain activity, rTMS treatment for OCD has shown promising results, especially for those who haven’t responded to other therapies. As more patients explore rTMS for OCD, the treatment continues to gain recognition for its effectiveness.
rTMS for obsessive compulsive disorder has shown promising results in alleviating symptoms and improving daily functioning.
OCD is a multifactorial disorder linked to abnormalities in brain circuits, genetic predisposition, and environmental factors. In patients with rTMS for OCD, there can be abnormalities in brain circuits responsible for recognizing and responding to threats.
One of the main treatments for OCD is cognitive behavioural therapy with exposure-response prevention. In this therapy, you are “exposed” to triggers for your obsessions. With the guidance of a therapist, you learn to tolerate the distress of not engaging in compulsive behaviour. Over time, the intrusive thoughts become less intense and the anxiety from not engaging in the compulsive behaviour decreases. For example, if you have OCD about contamination, you may be asked to touch something that triggers your thoughts about contamination and subsequently not engage in repetitive cleaning. This therapy can be challenging, and unfortunately, not everyone improves.
rTMS treatment for OCD is another option for those who do not respond well to traditional therapies.
Studies show that patients are more likely to improve when daily rTMS treatments for OCD are done alongside exposure-response prevention sessions (1).
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive, highly effective treatment that uses electromagnetic impulses that pass easily through the skull to stimulate abnormal brain activity without any systematic side effects or downtime.
- Liang, K., Li, H., Bu, X., Li, X., Cao, L., Liu, J., … & Huang, X. (2021). Efficacy and tolerability of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder in adults: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Translational psychiatry, 11(1), 1-10.
