Cost (and availability/wait time for nations with public healthcare) are a concern. I know several people who received conventional TMS for 30 minutes a day for six weeks. That cost them, with insurance, about $1500. It was effective for an average of six months. This treatment is an order of magnitude more time spent in the machine, even if over a shorter period. What will it cost? Will it be accessible to those who need it?
Depression has an enormous economic impact. Fatigue and pain (depression related symptoms) are some of the most common reasons people can't work in the wealthier part of the world. If the treatment costs $4000 dollars yearly and makes the difference between debilitating depression and functioning taxpayer that is self financing for the public healthcare.
> If the treatment costs $4000 dollars yearly and makes the difference between debilitating depression and functioning taxpayer that is self financing for the public healthcare.
That's a good bargain for people who pay out of pocket as well.
There are cheaper and easier to use brain stimulation treatments for depression than TMS. tDCS, that uses current instead of magnetic fields, might not be exactly as effective as TMS but is much more accessible and can be used at home. It stimulates the same area of the brain as TMS (DLPFC).
$1500 is cheap. I know people who’ve been receiving therapy 1 hr/wk plus medication for years. Even here, where the medical costs are a lot lower than in the US, that’s probably €5000/yr, and that excludes the indirect costs of depression.
