New Delhi: Which could be a boon for economically weaker Delhi patients suffering from depression, anxiety, Post traumatic stress smoking, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia, advanced mental health treatment will be available to them free of charge.
The deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (deep TMS) technique uses a non-invasive method to stimulate the brain in order to treat patients suffering from such mental disorders.
According doctors, the advanced brain stimulation machine uses patented “H-Coil” technology installed inside a comfortable padded headgear that can be placed on the patient’s head during treatment. The helmet is positioned to allow precise targeting of the area of the brain relevant to the patient’s particular symptoms. The electromagnetic fields are then used to regulate the activity of specific parts of the brain, reaching deep to treat areas of the brain while at the same time covering more of the relevant brain than with traditional TMS therapy.
Since each session lasts around 20 to 30 minutes, it can be easily incorporated into the patient’s daily schedule. As a non-invasive treatment with minimal side effects, patients can drive home after each session, the doctors said.
Ashok Mittal, President of Rotary Club, Delhi (North) said the club installed the high-tech TMS machine, costing Rs 1.5 crore, at the Cosmos Institute of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences (CIMBS). , to promote free access. and subsidized treatment through referrals and to undertake activities to reduce stigma towards mental health disorders.
On the recommendation of Rotary officials, treatment for 33 percent of patients will receive a 50-percent subsidy over a five-year period, he said, adding that treatment would be free for those with a monthly household income of less than 25k. The machine facility was inaugurated on Wednesday by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari.
Interestingly, AIIMS will become the first government hospital in Delhi to offer this facility in the coming months as the procurement process for the machine is underway, said Professor Nand Kumar from the AIIMS department of psychiatry. He added that “traditional TMS and deep TMS are promising treatment interventions for a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders, with proven efficacy for the treatment of OCD.”
Dr. Sunil Mittal, founder and president of CIMBS, told TOI that although traditional TMS therapies have been used by psychiatrists for more than 15 years, deep TMS provides faster and better results. He added that TMS results vary from patient to patient. Some require repeat sessions in 3 to 6 months, while a group of patients do not need a repeat course of TMS.
According to a recent report by the World Health Organization, India has one of the world’s largest populations of people with mental health problems. Before the pandemic, around 1 billion people were living with a mental illness in 2019 worldwide, including 14 per cent of the world’s adolescents, a proportion that has increased in the past two years.
