State-of-the-Art Treatments for Depression

If you are struggling with treatment-resistant depression and have not found relief, you are not alone. About one-third of Americans who experience depression do not find relief from antidepressant medications and talk therapy. If you are one of these people, the experts of the USC Neuromodulation Program can help.

Interventional psychiatry may be recommended if your depression is difficult to treat. Interventional psychiatry offers novel treatments for mental health disorders. These treatments include noninvasive, non-medication options like neuromodulation techniques that stimulate your nervous system to adjust the way it sends signals.

Our experts offer interventional psychiatry approaches for adult patients with treatment-resistant depression. We are committed to your healing journey by providing specialized, compassionate care tailored to your needs.

What Is Treatment-Resistant Depression?

Treatment-resistant depression is depression that is hard to treat with conventional remedies like antidepressants and talk therapy alone. You are likely to have treatment-resistant depression if your medications are well-managed but you have not responded sufficiently to at least two different antidepressants.

Treatments We Offer for Treatment-Resistant Depression

At the USC Neuromodulation Program, our experts use the best available medical science and a deep understanding of how the brain works to create a care plan that is both targeted and personalized to your particular treatment-resistant depression. Treatments include:

• Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS): TMS is a noninvasive form of brain stimulation that safely alters brain activity patterns, easing symptoms of hard-to-treat depression. It is a form of brain stimulation that delivers focused, magnetic pulses through a coil placed on the scalp. These pulses generate electrical activity in specific brain regions, without requiring surgery, anesthesia or ongoing medication. Treatment is administered while patients are awake and seated comfortably. Most individuals can return to normal activities immediately after each session. Improvement often occurs gradually over several weeks as treatment progresses.
• Esketamine nasal spray: Esketamine is a medication that is closely related to the anesthetic ketamine and is used to treat treatment-resistant depression. At low doses, it can relieve symptoms within hours in some people.
• Deep brain stimulation (DBS): Electrodes (thin wires) are surgically implanted in the brain region associated with mood regulation. They are connected to a small, pacemaker-like device that is implanted under the skin of your upper chest. This device sends electrical impulses to the electrodes in your brain to regulate brain signaling and help with conditions like OCD.
• Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS): VNS is used to treat chronic or recurrent depression in patients who are experiencing a treatment-resistant or treatment-intolerant major depressive episode. VNS modulates established pathways involved in depression. It works by regularly transmitting small electrical signals from a neurostimulator (similar to a pacemaker) through a thin lead under your skin to the vagus nerve in your neck. Through these small electrical signals, VNS has been shown to improve depression symptoms.

Clinical Trials for Treatment-Resistant Depression

As part of the academic health system of Keck Medicine of USC, our doctors are continuously making discoveries to improve your health and quality of life. If previous treatments have not resolved your depression, ask your health care provider if a clinical trial or research study might be right for you.