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A Look At Post-COVID Stress Disorder

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As the global COVID-19 pandemic lessens, mental health care professionals are now concerned with confronting post-COVID stress disorder.

To understand the connection between the psychological impact of COVID-19 and PTSD, an Italian survey (the COVID-19-PTSD questionnaire) was created to study this connection.

"These results are relevant from a clinical point of view because they suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic could be considered as a traumatic event," concludes the study's abstract.

Health professionals are working on support strategies that will meet the challenge of post-COVID stress disorder over the months ahead.

Closer to home, Dr. David Penner and his team are helping in that effort at Olympia TMS.  They are ready to assist those military and their families who have faced stress professionally and personally during the pandemic.  And that focus is less on drugs and more on natural treatments to treat the depressed mood that results.

" Fighting depression and PTSD with drugs isn't for everyone," Penner said. 

There are side-effects which sometimes compound the problem, as well as marginal results for many. 

"Pharmaceuticals can come with both a financial cost and an emotional one as well," Penner said. "That is why many are turning to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or TMS. TMS is a safe, non-invasive, FDA-cleared process for the treatment of depressive disorders, anxieties and for some, COVID and related PTSD."

Since 2008, TMS has been in the medical community and known as a safe and effective alternative treatment for depression without the side effects commonly associated with medication.

TMS has been recommended by the American Psychiatric Association since 2010 for treatment of major depressive disorders. 

"During treatment, magnetic pulses are delivered through a magnetic coil to stimulate nerve cells in the parts of the brain controlling mood," Penner explained. "Repeated stimulation of this area of the brain can have an antidepressants effect on people suffering from major depressive disorder, essentially restoring the part of the brain that has ‘shut down' during depression."

TMS is not shock therapy. In fact, most patients feel just a light tickling sensation.

The procedure lasts between 3 to 19 minutes, without the need for any forms of anesthesia and fewer side effects. Treatments can happen at any time of the day with many having appointments before work or during a lunch break.  TMS is approved by the FDA and recommended by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Thurston county residents with depressive symptoms can book an appointment by filling a form online to see if they qualify for TMS treatments. More details and updates on TMS treatments in Olympia are available here.

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