Anxiety is one of the most common and pervasive mental health disorders you can face. Many people find that anxiety dictates their life. They limit their activities in an effort to prevent anxiety and engage in ritualistic behaviors to help control the overwhelming fear and dread.

But the quality of your life doesn’t have to be determined by anxiety. Kevin Murphy, MD and Lisa Duhaylongsod, MD, at MindSet offer highly personalized treatment that alleviates anxiety using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to restore normal brain wave activity.

Curious to know how brain waves are related to anxiety and how TMS works? Keep reading to learn more and call us any time you have a question or want to schedule a consultation to learn about how to live free from anxiety.

Anxiety’s impact on your brain

Anxiety immediately triggers a reaction in your brain, then your brain activates a bodywide hormonal response. Short-lived anxiety, such as worry about a new job or a test at school, causes a temporary change before your body returns to normal.

But when you have frequent or chronic anxiety, your body stays in a state of high alert and over time, that affects your brain function. For example, high levels of stress hormones disrupt communication between nerves (neurons) in the brain.

Ongoing anxiety diminishes the part of your brain that regulates thinking and revs up the area that reacts to stress, rewiring your brain in a way that makes you more vulnerable to anxiety.

All of these changes in your brain are directly reflected in changes in your brainwaves. Anxiety leads to under functioning neuron activity and fewer neurotransmitters. As a result, you have ongoing anxiety. That’s where TMS can help.

TMS restores abnormal brainwaves

TMS is a type of neuromodulation therapy. Neuromodulation generally refers to using electrical stimulation to alter nerve activity. TMS uses an electric current to produce a magnetic field that safely and painlessly enters your brain.

When we target TMS to reach a precise, under functioning brain area, the magnetic pulses trigger nerve activity. With a series of TMS sessions, the neurons return to their normal activity level, which in turn diminishes your anxiety.

Neurocognitive analysis directs TMS

We never use a one-size-fits-all approach and direct TMS to the brain areas typically associated with anxiety. Our TMS treatments go a step beyond the ordinary because we developed PrTMS (personalized repetitive TMS).

PrTMS is a cutting-edge technique that combines your neurocognitive analysis to guide your TMS therapy and create customized treatments for each person. We begin with a subjective assessment so we can learn about your feelings, behaviors, and anxiety.

Then, we do a baseline electroencephalogram (EEG) to get a comprehensive report of your brainwaves. We use a wireless EEG cap (forget about gels or electrodes) and in about five minutes, we have images showing your brain activity in 19 critical regions.

We analyze all your data, determine the unique areas in your brain that need a boost and develop the PrTMS treatment that meets your mental health needs. Then you receive a daily TMS treatment (5 days a week) and we take a new EEG every five sessions.

As you start to feel the change in your anxiety symptoms, you can see the corresponding changes on your EEG. You have physical evidence that your brainwaves are returning to a level that better supports your improved mental health. After about 36 weeks of TMS treatments, you can finally feel free from constant anxiety.

If you experience any type of anxiety and would like to learn how you can escape its impact on your daily life, call MindSet or book an appointment online today.