TMS treatment for alcohol addiction
TMS therapy is an innovative approach to treating alcohol dependence.It’s a non-invasive therapy that uses magnetic pulses to calm the areas of your brain that cause cravings.
Get your life back…
Alcohol addiction can cause numerous problems, not just with your physical and mental health, but with your family, your relationships, and even your job. Transcranial magnetic stimulation can help you get your life back.
The NHS estimates that around 9% of men and 3% of women in the UK show signs of alcohol dependence – and the problem is becoming more and more common.
Research has shown Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to be a safe and effective way to tackle alcohol addiction. With no anaesthetic, no medication, no need for hospitalisation and no recovery time, this non-invasive treatment uses a repetitive magnetic pulse to stimulate the parts of the brain that cause alcohol cravings and dependence.
Understanding alcohol dependence…
There is a fine line between enjoying a drink and being dependent on alcohol to get you through your day. By the time you realise you have a problem, the addiction could be already making it difficult to reduce your intake.
It’s difficult to identify what causes the addiction to alcohol, because it can be a slow, gradual increase in drinking habits or a quicker, more intense change of behaviour. Fundamentally, the brain becomes reliant on alcohol to produce certain chemicals, which is why alcoholics can suffer from such uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. The brain begins to NEED alcohol.
The trigger for each alcoholic beginning drinking is as individual as the person. It may be difficult life events, like a divorce or a bereavement, that start you drinking, or you might have witnessed a parent with bad drinking habits as you grew up. Some scientists go as far as to say that there are certain genes in different chromosome regions that make someone more susceptible to addiction.
Signs of alcohol dependence (or alcoholism) can include:
- Spending time worrying about when you will next have a drink or where you will get it from
- Finding it hard to stop drinking once you’ve started
- Starting drinking before lunch regularly
- Feeling anxious or depressed
- Suffering from physical withdrawal symptoms like shaking and sweating when you haven’t had a drink.
Although it may feel as though your addiction is beating you, Smart TMS can help you beat the addiction and live your life free from alcohol cravings.
What treatment is available for an addiction to alcohol?
The NHS recommends treating alcohol misuse with counselling to get to the root of the problem. This can include: cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), self help groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, or the AA for short, 12 step facilitation therapy and family therapy.
Detoxing can be conducted at home with medical support, but if it’s severe, it should be completed in hospital. It can take around 7 days from your last drink to stop having withdrawal symptoms, but medication such as Chlordiaepoxide (Librium) can reduce or stop the withdrawal symptoms completely. In extreme cases, vitamin supplements may also be required.
After detoxing, the amount of patients recovering from alcoholism that relapse within the first year is as high as 80%. TMS helps to reduce cravings for alcohol and there are a number of drugs which can help to avoid relapse. These include: Acamprosate, Naltrexone and Disulfiram. The longer a patient can remain sober, the less likely they are to relapse and research shows that those who stay sober for five years are likely to remain sober. This is why it’s vital that patients with alcoholism have as many opportunities as possible to access scientifically proven methods to help them stay well.
How does TMS treatment work for alcohol addiction?
Withdrawal symptoms can be extreme when detoxing from alcohol and standard treatments, like CBT or self help groups, may not be enough to stop you relapsing; the cravings may be too hard to ignore. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to be a safe and effective way to tackle alcohol addiction.
TMS works by calming the area of the brain known to cause the craving for alcohol. In patients who have recently gone through a 10 day detox, TMS can help them to prolong their success by reducing those cravings. When treating alcohol dependence, 15 sessions of TMS will be prescribed. These will be booked daily for three weeks (Monday to Friday).
Addiction Treatment Prices
TMS treatment for addiction is delivered in a course of 15 sessions.
Additional treatment can be booked as per the advice of your clinician.
| London | Other Locations | |
| Initial course (15 sessions) | £4,500 | £4,125 |
| Subsequent course (15 sessions) | £4,500 | £4,125 |
Is TMS Treatment Right For You?
Try our quick 2 minute questionnaire to see whether TMS treatment could help.
What our Patients Say
Around my 7th session, I found waking up easier, I walked to the clinic without any of my usual cravings and managed to sit in the pub with friends without giving in to their offers. I felt settled and comfortable within myself, which is something I haven’t felt for a long time
Mr T
Going cold turkey had left me anxious and irritable in the past, but I have absolutely none of these feelings associated with quitting. TMS took that all away
Barbara
During treatment, I felt like I was struggling to even think about my addiction. I couldn’t remember how it made me feel or associate with it at all. A moment of grieving the addiction that had carried me through hard times was replaced by elation – I could finally start to live my life.
Continuous Care
Dr Neal and his team understand the need to help our patients stay well beyond the end of their TMS treatment. Using research and our own experience, we have designed aftercare packages to provide ongoing care with a planned programme of regular top-up treatments.
Have you had TMS treatment for depression at another clinic? Smart TMS can offer you maintenance therapy, too!
Is TMS right for me?
Overcoming addiction is no easy task, especially when temptation is everywhere. Whether you’re walking past your local pub or used to having a drink after work, our aftercare packages are designed to help you stay in remission, despite the temptations you’ll face. We would also recommend counselling or a drug rehabilitation service, like Alcoholics Anonymous.
Alcohol addiction is treatable, and Smart TMS can help. Most people are suitable to receive TMS treatment. To help you make up your mind about treatment, our practitioners offer pre-arranged clinic visits to answer any questions you have and show you the TMS machine. If you would like to arrange a clinic visit, call the team or fill in the form below.