"Brain implant may lift most severe depression"

[Sunrise]

Interesting article

Would you consider something as extreme as this? To me the idea of going through a procedure like this sounds absolutely terrifying. But maybe I'm too irrational about it? It sounds like an idea from some sort of terrifying dystopian science fiction, bit some people think that about vaccines so maybe I'm being silly.

Maybe my depression has never been so bad that I'd resort to such a drastic measure. I'm not sure I've ever had the sort of extreme depression where I'm constantly suicidal. I've had chronic depression for about 20 years but I'm not sure it would be classed as severe.

If it helps people then it can only be a good thing I suppose. I suppose my main concern would be I don't think it would work and I'd end up still being constantly miserable but I'd now have a battery permanently lodged in my skull, which I think would only add to my misery.

[SpectralOwls]

I mean, I guess if it was bad enough where I would consider doing anything (if literally nothing else had worked), then yeah. The feeling of depression could be so severe that it could warrant the desperation. It kind of comes down to the life or death struggle.

Pretty interesting article though! I'll have to read up more on this...

[biscuits]

I'm also skeptical.

[SpectralOwls]

Oh yeah. Definitely question everything. Want to be horrified? Read about Rosemary Kennedy. One of the saddest stories I've ever read, and to think that there were countless others swept under the rug during that time that trusted these quacks to "help" loved ones (or worse, didn't really even care).

My response is in regards to it being IF it were a proven method. I've been in the position of wanting to die during depression, and I can understand how threatening it can be. I'm one of the lucky ones where medication was able to help. I don't know if I'd be here still if it hadn't.

[Sunrise]

I'm skeptical to say the least, but does that make me some sort of ignorant science-denier? In a way my opinions are based mostly on watching old horror films, whilst these pioneering treatments are led by leading scientists who are experts in their field who I should be listening to. It's the same when people talk about using LSD to treat depression, that sounds terrifying to me to as "drugs are bad" is the message I was always given as a kid. But am I ignorant and misguided for thinking that?

I think depression is misunderstood in a lot of cases, but I think a lot of pharmaceutical treatments do work for a lot of people.

Personally I've found pharmaceutical treatments, therapeutic treatments, and simply doing nothing and hoping it fixes itself equally as useless. My own depression isn't caused by life circumstances, I've always had a naturally dark personality. Maybe something like this would be a good option for someone like that?

[Sunrise]

The problem with the term "mental health" is that it's used to describe lots of very different conditions. There's a huge difference between someone who is experiencing depression due to a few bad life experiences and someone who is experiencing it because of some sort of chemical imbalance or something like that. The symptoms are the same but the cause is very different and the treatment is very different. It must be very difficult to diagnose, at least initially, if someone is going through a bad patch or if something else is going on with them physically that is causing it. I can say with quite a lot of confidence that in my case it's the latter but for years I was treated as the former and they thought I just needed a confidence boost.

From what I read it looks like it's a sort of pacemaker that gives the patient ECT when needed? Although that's my own ignorant impression of what it does. ECT isn't really used in this country anymore and is seen as old fashioned and barbaric but I believe it's still a fairly common treatment elsewhere.

I did consider asking for ECT once when I was desperate, but I'm not sure how it works and it sounds very risky. I wouldn't want it now, but I've lost faith in mental health treatment in general.

I imagine this sort of treatment would only be offered to people with very long term issues. Most people seem to experience depression as a short term issue caused by life circumstances and talking therapies probably would be the best be option for them. I do think medication for mental illness is a very, very good thing, but it probably isn't the best option for most.

[Dougella]

I actually watched a video of someone who is having a type of therapy for depression in the US which uses a similar process to this, but it doesn't involve an actual implant. I'll see if I can find it. (A quick heads up, the person is a trans man so some things mentioned in the start of the video may not make sense to some people, but that's not really relevent to the depression treatment information.)

It's an interesting idea that they can pinpoint the areas of depression in the brain and sort of interrupt it. We know that anti-depressants aren't helpful for some people so having an alternative (if it's found to be effective) seems good.

[Tonkin]

If it works then great, but if it doesn't then it maybe not. But that is the question isn't it? Does it work and what harm does it cause?

There was a doc on the BBC about autism and they had a therapy where they "blasted" the kids brain with something that looked like that to treat some of his symptoms (in America).