Breaking Through: How Deep TMS Transforms Mental Health and Addiction RecoveryBreaking Through: How Deep TMS Transforms Mental Health and Addiction Recovery
I Love Being Sober
Tim Westbrook and Ross Mitchell talk through how Deep TMS works, what patients experience, and how it supports treatment-resistant depression, OCD and smoking addiction. The discussion focuses on real-world outcomes, safety, insurance access and how this therapy fits into broader recovery strategies.
41:29•12 Nov 2024
Deep TMS and Sobriety: A New Approach to Depression, OCD and Addiction
Episode Overview
- Deep TMS is a non-invasive outpatient treatment using electromagnetic pulses to target brain areas linked to depression, OCD and smoking addiction.
- Real-world clinic data show around four out of five treatment-resistant depression patients respond, with many reaching remission.
- Sessions are brief, generally comfortable, and side effects such as mild headaches or scalp tingling usually fade after the first few treatments.
- Results often appear within the first two weeks and can last around a year, with booster or maintenance sessions helping extend benefits.
- Combining Deep TMS with psychotherapy, ketamine-assisted work and other modalities can improve outcomes for people in mental health and addiction recovery.
“This is undoubtedly one of the most effective things that you can do to treat depression.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation on *I Love Being Sober* zooms in on Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Deep TMS) and how it’s shifting the landscape of mental health and addiction treatment. Host Tim Westbrook talks with Ross Mitchell, Vice President of Global Marketing at BrainsWay, about what Deep TMS actually looks like in day-to-day life for patients.
Instead of a scary hospital procedure, Ross explains that most people feel “a gentle tapping sensation on their head” during sessions that last between three and twenty minutes, while they sit in a comfy chair, chat to the technician, or watch something on an iPad. The episode focuses strongly on people who haven’t found relief from traditional antidepressants or therapy.
Ross shares that for treatment-resistant depression, “about four out of five patients will experience a response” and around two in three reach remission, even after years of feeling stuck. You’ll also hear how Deep TMS is cleared for OCD and smoking addiction, with results that can last around a year and are often boosted through follow-up or maintenance sessions.
Tim and Ross talk candidly about insurance barriers, late responders, and creative protocols like combining standard 20-minute sessions with short "theta burst" add-ons to increase the impact without piling on time or cost. They also touch on pairing Deep TMS with therapies such as exposure and response prevention for OCD, and even ketamine-assisted work, giving a sense of how different tools can work together rather than compete.
If you or someone you care about is struggling with depression, anxiety, OCD or addiction and feeling like you’ve “tried everything”, this episode offers a clear, practical look at another option that might change the path ahead. Could Deep TMS be the extra support that helps long-term recovery feel more achievable?
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