MILLION AMERICANS REPORT SUFFERING FROM CLINICAL DEPRESSION EACH YEAR.
...AND ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH--MORE THAN 16 MILLION AMERICANS EXPERIENCED AT LEAST
áONEá MAJOR DEPRESSIVE EPISODE IN 20-16--ALMOST SEVEN PERCENT OF ALL ADULTS IN THE COUNTRY.
A STAGGERING 50 PERCENT OF THOSE WHO EXPERIENCE SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION WON'T GET ANY TREATMENT AT ALL...THOSE WHO DO ARE
OFTEN PRESCRIBED TRADITIONAL ANTI- DEPRESSANT MEDICATIONS...
...BUT WHAT IF THOSE MEDICATIONS DON'T WORK FOR YOU?
VALERIE PONSETI HAS A LOOK INTO SOME ALTERNATIVE DEPRESSION TREATMENTS SHE FOUND RIGHT HERE IN ACADIANA.
DEPRESSION IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF DISABILITY IN THE UNITED STATES ACCORDING TO THE ANIXETY AND DEPRESSION
ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA...IT ALSO TOPS THE SAME LIST ACROSS THE GLOBE.
SOT: MATTHEW DECLOUET - PSYCHIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH NURSE PRACTITIONER "DIFFICULTY SLEEPING OR HYPERSOMNIA, SLEEPING
TOO MUCH, GUILT, FEELING WORTHLESS, FEELING SAD MOST EVERY SINGLE DAY, PROBLEMS WITH FOCUS AND CONCENTRATION,
YOU CAN EVEN HAVE INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS OF WANTING TO HARM YOURSELF." FIRST, MOST MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS--LIKE
LAFAYETTE-BASED PSYCHIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH NURSE PRACTITIONER "MATTHEW DECLOUET"--WILL ENCOURAGE PATIENTS TO
TRY PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS TO GET SOME RELIEF...
DECLOUET "YOU WANT TO REALLY PRY AND DIG AND SEE WHAT THEY'VE TRIED AND GET SPECIFICS OF HOW LONG THEY'VE TRIALED
MEDICATIONS." ...BUT IF YOU'VE EXHAUSTED ALL OF THOSE AVENUES, "DECLOUET" SAYS THINKING OUTSIDE OF
THE BOX--OR BOTTLE--FOR TREATMENT IS NOT A BAD IDEA.
DECLOUET "TMS, ECT, EVEN KETAMINE, IF THE CLIENT'S APPROPRIATE FOR IT I THINK YOU KNOW, THE MAN GOAL IS
SYMPTOM REMISSION. SO I THINK ALL OF THOSE APPROACHES, IF MEDICATIONS AREN'T WORKING FULLY, THEN I THINK THOSE
APPROACHES WOULD BE DEFINITELY BENEFICIAL TO THE CLIENT." PROFESSIONALS SKILLED IN AT LEAST TWO OF THOSE TECHNIQUES
ARE PRACTICING RIGHT HERE IN ACADIANA...USING KETAMINE THERAPY, AND TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATION--OR TMS--TO
TREAT PATIENTS.
WHILE THE APPROACH FOR EACH IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, BOTH WERE DISCOVERED THE SAME WAY...BY ACCIDENT.
KETAMINE CAME ALONG IN THE FORM OF A BATTLEFIELD ANESTHETIC IN THE 1960'S...
SOT: ALLEN GREEN RN, BSN, MBA, VA-BC - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEUROMEND "PUT THEM TO SLEEP SO THAT THEY COULD DO A
QUICK PROCEDURE.
WELL, A LOT OF THESE SOLDIERS THAT GOT THE KETAMINE WERE FOUND TO BE ALMOST IN A KIND OF UNUSUALLY CHIPPER MOOD AFTERWARD."
FAST FORWARD A COUPLE DECADES TO THE BIRTH OF T-M-S IN THE 80'S...WITH THE HELP OF A DOCTOR WHOSE PATIENTS' TREATMENTS
INVOLVED A WHOLE LOT OF M-R-I'S...
BAUDOIN "AND THIS DOCTOR STARTED NOTICING THESE PEOPLE'S MOOD WAS IMPROVED.
ALTHOUGH, THEY WERE SUFFERING FROM A CHRONIC DISEASE, THE EXPOSURE FROM THE MRI HAD DONE SOMETHING TO THEM."
AS EXPLAINED BY NURSE ALLEN GREEN, KETAMINE INFUSION WORKS BY WAY OF A CHEMICAL REACTION.
PATIENTS ARE GIVEN THE DRUG SLOWLY, THROUGH AN I-V...THEN, THE BODY'S REACTION TO THE KETAMINE RELEASES SOMETHING CALLED
GLUTAMATE--A NEUROTRANSMITTER WHICH GREEN SAYS CAN REPAIR DAMAGE TO THE BRAIN CAUSED BY DEPRESSSION.
GREEN "IMAGINE A TREE IN THE WINTER. IT'S GOT NO LEAVES, THE BRANCHES ARE KIND OF WILTING, THERE'S JUST NOTHING
TO IT. IF YOU GIVE IT SUNLIGHT AND COME SPRING, ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU'VE GOT FULL BRANCHES, YOU'VE GOT LEAVES, YOU HAVE A
MUCH STRONGER TREE." T-M-S DEALS WITH NEUTRANSMITTERS AS WELL--BUT IN THIS CASE, A MAGNET IS PLACED NEAR THE PATIENTS
HEAD...WHERE AN ELECTRIC CURRENT IS RELEASED.
SOT: BRUCE BAUDOIN - CO-OWNER, TMS OF ACADIANA "WE USE MAGNETIC THERAPY IN A WAY TO TRAIN THEIR BRAIN TO
LEARN HOW TO DEPOLARIZE YOUR NEURONS, AND TO CONTINUE TO DEPOLARIZE YOUR NEURONS AND
REPOLARIZE." AS FOR CONCERNS LIKE NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS?...GREEN SAYS EVEN THOUGH KETAMINE IS KNOWN TO BE ABUSED
AS A STREET DRUG, PATIENTS ARE GIVEN AN EXTREMELY LOW DOSE, AND MONITORED CAREFULLY.
AND IF YOU'RE CONSIDERING T-M-S, CO- OWNER OF TMS OF ACADIANA "BRUCE BAUDOIN" SAYS IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW
THAT A FULL 36-SESSION TREATMENT IS EQUIVALENT TO THE MAGNETIC EXPOSURE OF ONE M-R-I.
THESE AREN'T THE ONLY ALTERNATIVES TO PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS FOR TREATMENT-RESISTANT DEPRESSION OUT
THERE--BUT THOSE WHO'VE SEEN SUCCESS IN THE TECHNIQUES SAY THEY'RE MORE THAN WORTH A SHOT.
BAUDOIN "MOST PEOPLE WHO HAVE DEPRESSION, THEIR BRAIN WASN'T FUNCTIONING CORRECTLY IN THE
COMMUNICATION WAY.
SO, WE GIVE THEM THE NEUROTRANSMITTERS NEEDED FOR COMMUNICATION. ONCE THEIR BRAINS START EFFECTIVELY
COMMUNICATING BY WHAT WE'VE TAUGHT IT TO DO HERE, THEN DEPRESSION TENDS TO GO AWAY." GREEN
"ALL OF SUDDEN, 'HEY, I WAS ABLE TO EAT A FULL MEAL LAST NIGHT, OR WOW, I SLEPT EIGHT HOURS LAST NIGHT. I TOOK MY DOG FOR A
WALK. I PLAYED WITH MY KIDS." IN LAFAYETTE, VALERIE PONSETI, KATC TV-3.
RIGHT NOW--T-M-S THERAPY, AS WELL AS MANY TRADITIONAL PRESCRIPTION MEDICINES ARE COVERED BY SOME
INSURANCES...WHILE KETAMINE INFUSION ISN'T COVERED YET, DOCTORS SAY THE COST CONTINUES TO GO DOWN.
HEAD OVER TO KATC.COM FOR LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION ON DEPRESSION, AND DIFFERENT TYPES OF TREATMENTS.