TMS treatment for anxiety

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health conditions in the UK, with up to 1 in 4 people suffering at some point in their life.

Anxiety symptoms can be both psychological and physical. These will vary person to person but may include:

• Restlessness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Feelings of dread
• Feelings of being on edge
• Problems sleeping
• Irritability
• Dizziness
• Heart palpitations
• Shortness of breath
• Dry mouth

Although anxiety can feel as though it is all consuming, it is treatable and Smart TMS see a significant amount of patients living a much improved quality of life after treatment.

Ultimately, anxiety is the body's way of protecting itself from perceived danger and is completely natural. In fact, as anxiety activates the "fight/flight/freeze" response, it is vital for survival when the danger is real (like coming face to face with a hungry lion, for example). It only becomes a problem when fight/flight/freeze responses impact day to day life.

When coming face to face with a lion, you might run away (flight), attempt to scare it off (fight) or stay completely still until it has passed (freeze). This response could save your life. The same response isn't as helpful in daily life, especially as many of us aren't going to come face to face with a hungry wild animal. For example, you may be extremely anxious about giving a presentation at work or school. You may respond to the perceived danger of the presentation by struggling to think clearly (freeze), by snapping at your co-presenters (fight) or even by leaving work early (flight). In this case, these three responses actually hinder you rather than help.

Experts aren't sure what makes some people less able to differentiate between real danger and perceived danger, but it could be down to previous bad experience, learned behaviour (for example, growing up with an anxious parent) or the chemical balance in the brain.

Some patients can manage their anxiety with self help courses or books, but group courses are also available. If the patient doesn't feel their anxiety improve, psychological treatment, like CBT, is often offered to teach mindfulness and other coping techniques.

If the you've not seen any improvements, antidepressants, such as SSRIs like Sertraline and Paroxetine may be offered. Benzodiazepines like Diazepam are very effective in treating anxiety, but shouldn't be used long term because they can become addictive quickly. Combinations of medication and psychological therapy see around 50% of patients responding to treatment.