Understanding Your Options for Depression Treatment

Depression treatment is not one-size-fits-all. For some people, medication and psychotherapy provide meaningful improvement. Others continue experiencing depression despite trying one or more approaches. This page can help you understand different treatment categories and when a conversation with an interventional mental health provider may be appropriate.

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Antidepressant medications are often a first step in treating depression. They work by influencing certain chemicals in the brain involved in mood regulation. Different classes of antidepressants work in different ways, and what helps one person may not help another.

Some people find meaningful improvement with medication. Others experience partial relief, side effects, or a response that fades over time. If you are currently taking medication, do not stop or change it without discussing it with your prescribing healthcare provider.

Therapy remains an important part of treatment for many patients. Approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and EMDR can help people understand patterns, develop coping strategies, and process difficult experiences. Therapy may be used on its own or alongside other treatments.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive treatment that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate targeted areas of the brain associated with mood. It does not require anesthesia and is performed in an outpatient setting. A traditional course typically involves sessions over several weeks. TMS is FDA-cleared for treatment-resistant depression.

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If you've tried medication and you're still not yourself, you may be a candidate for SAINT®. Our team will give you a straight answer.

Accelerated TMS differs from traditional TMS primarily in its treatment schedule and protocol. Rather than spreading sessions over several weeks, accelerated protocols deliver multiple sessions per day over a shorter period. Individual results vary, and eligibility is determined through clinical evaluation.

SAINT® (Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy) is an FDA-cleared accelerated TMS protocol that uses functional MRI to individually map and target the treatment area. The protocol compresses treatment into five consecutive days. Whether SAINT may be appropriate is a clinical determination made during evaluation.

SPRAVATO® is a prescription nasal spray containing esketamine, FDA-approved for adults with treatment-resistant depression. It is administered under medical supervision at a certified treatment center, with a required monitoring period afterward. It works through a different mechanism than oral antidepressants.

Neuro Wellness TMS Centers of America offers IV ketamine infusions and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. IV ketamine is administered as an infusion in a clinical setting. Whether ketamine may be appropriate depends on your clinical history and is determined during consultation.

Diagnosis, symptoms, previous treatments, medications, health history, clinical evaluation, treatment schedule, patient preferences, and insurance considerations may all influence recommendations. The goal of a consultation is to understand your full picture before discussing which option may be worth considering.

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