TMS Therapy for OCD in Los Angeles, CA

What is OCD?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness that can have debilitating symptoms that prevent people from functioning normally. While OCD has traditionally been categorized as an anxiety disorder, the DSM-5-TR recently created an entirely separate category for OCD and OCD-related illnesses. Although OCD is a chronic condition, there are a variety of treatments that have shown success in alleviating OCD symptoms and underlying issues.

OCD is a disorder that causes people to have obsessive and unwanted thoughts and/or repetitive behaviors. Obsessive thoughts may cause the person to feel a great amount of anxiety or cause them to develop compulsions. Compulsions are the behaviors that are performed by people with OCD in an attempt to alleviate their anxiety-inducing thoughts. These behaviors often impede a person’s ability to live their everyday life — for example, they might repeatedly wash their hands or perform other rituals obsessively. The most common way to treat OCD is with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medications.

However, these first-line treatments are not effective for everyone. TMS therapy is a safe and effective option for those struggling with OCD symptoms, even when conventional treatments have not provided symptom relief.

Signs and symptoms of OCD

OCD affects people of all ages and walks of life, including about 1 in 40 adults in the United States. OCD is a mental health disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, recurring thoughts (obsessions) and/or behaviors (compulsions).

Obsessions are typically repetitive, intrusive, and sometimes irrational thoughts that cause intense panic or anxiety. Common obsessions may center around unwanted violent or sexual thoughts, losing control of one’s body, the fear of contamination or death, misplacing objects, or the need for symmetry.

Compulsions are typically physical or mental behaviors that patients perform to alleviate or “fix” problems that their obsessions have created. Often, compulsions may present as everyday behaviors, which are taken to an unhealthy extreme, like hand washing that goes well beyond a concern for cleanliness. Compulsions may also present as irrational impulses, like needing to count cracks in the sidewalk perfectly to prevent fearing for a family member’s life.

With OCD, obsessions and compulsions can cause a lot of distress, take up significant time, and interfere with daily activities.

How is OCD treated with TMS?

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) uses magnetic pulses to stimulate specific areas in the brain to improve OCD symptoms. TMS is a well-established, FDA-cleared option that has been available throughout the U.S. at numerous psychiatric clinics and hospitals. Although medications and behavioral therapies are first-line options for OCD, over 50% of patients still experience OCD symptoms after undergoing these conventional treatments. However, TMS therapy is a novel and effective approach to achieving symptom relief for those with OCD.

When treating patients with OCD, TMS pulses are directed toward specific areas of the brain that are associated with OCD symptoms. During TMS treatment, patients recline in a treatment chair and remain awake and alert. A TMS magnet is positioned over the patient’s head to deliver gentle pulses to specific areas of the brain. Patients report that the pulses feel like taps on the scalp. Each treatment session lasts about 30 minutes, after which patients can immediately return to their daily routines.

Clinical studies have demonstrated that repetitive magnetic stimulation over the prefrontal cortex is a safe, effective, and well-tolerated treatment for OCD. Sometimes, patients experience mild scalp discomfort or mild headache during treatment, and while most of our patients say that the pulses take some getting used to, they aren’t painful. If you’re feeling discomfort, let us know and we can make adjustments.

If you are interested in TMS therapy for yourself or a loved one suffering with OCD, call Neuro Wellness Spa at 1-877-679-8344 or visit our Contact Us page.

OCD statistics

OCD can affect anyone regardless of one’s country, race, gender, or economic class. BeyondOCD, a foundation dedicated to raising awareness about OCD, reports that approximately 1 in 40 Americans will meet the DSM-5 criteria for an OCD diagnosis at some point in their lives. Current estimates suggest that 1 in 100 children in the U.S. has OCD.

While those figures may seem staggering, as many as 1 in 4 American adults will experience obsessions or compulsions at some point in their lives.