UK’s young adults most susceptible to depression and anxiety, as reports showcase inefficacy and side-effects of anti-depressants
Mental health treatment specialists Smart TMS launch ‘TMS for Teenagers’ – a depression treatment dedicated to 16-18 year olds, to provide effective alternative to prescription drugs
Mental health treatment specialists Smart TMS have launched the UK and Ireland’s first Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy for teenagers. The treatment has been launched in response to Britain’s youth mental health epidemic and an apparent lack of focus from all parties to make the development of innovative mental health treatments a priority.
The number of children and young people saying they have a mental health condition has grown six fold in England over two decades according to studies by UCL and the University of Exeter. This is evident in the number of under 18s who experience unacceptably long waiting times to access mental healthcare, both immediate A&E treatment and long-term services.
What’s more, the traditional method of treating their depression with prescription anti-depressants is proving to be very problematic. A recent study published in The Lancet Psychiatry found the UK’s most widely prescribed anti-depressant, Sertraline, was very ineffective at treating depression, whilst research by Smart TMS has found that 27% of 18-24 year olds are going untreated to avoid the side effects of prescription medication.
Smart TMS to provide alternative treatment option for 16-18 year olds experiencing depression
In an effort to combat this mental health crisis amongst Britain’s youth, mental health treatment specialists Smart TMS are launching a new service dubbed ‘TMS for Teenagers’. The service will provide an alternative treatment for depression in 16-18 year olds, in an effort to make more treatment options available to young people in an age in which it seems to be most needed.
Smart TMS is the UK & Ireland’s foremost provider of TMS therapy, a treatment which magnetic pulses to stimulate specific areas of the brain associated with mental health problems. The non-medicinal and non-invasive nature of the treatment means that the potential for side effects are massively reduced, and there is no danger of patients developing reliance on or addiction to the treatment. Smart TMS report that 60% of patients treated for depression go into remission, i.e., no longer experience symptoms. Smart TMS is also working to develop robust relationships with NHS trusts across the country, with a view to making the TMS treatment more widely available moving forward.
Gerard Barnes, CEO of Smart TMS, says that their decision to make the treatment available for teenagers was made partially in response to the widely publicised decline in youth mental health, as well as the side effects of anti-depressants in this age group:
CEO of Smart TMS, Gerard Barnes, provides the following commentary on the psychological problems experienced by the UK’s youth, and discusses the Smart TMS philosophy and approach to treatment:
“It has been made extremely clear to us at Smart TMS, both through external reports and our own personal research, that the young people of Britain are contending with widespread mental health problems. A shocking proportion of the UK’s youth are exhibiting and reporting clear signs of depression and anxiety, characterised by low self-esteem, an increase in substance abuse and a loss of the ability to carry out simple functions without overthinking, to name a few.
While there are various reasons to which this mental health epidemic can be attributed, it is undeniable that the current range of treatment options available to young people is lacking in availability and efficacy – 1 in 10 psychiatrist’s positions are left vacant in the UK, and anti-depressants have been proven to be ineffective for many, not to mention the side effects. It is also well known that, if mental health issues are not resolved as soon as possible, there is a high likelihood of the affected individual succumbing to a lifetime of interaction with mental health services.
At Smart TMS, we are committed to providing an alternative method of mental health treatment to the UK. We have successfully been treating psychological problems such as depression for several years now, and we are delighted to announce that we will now be able to extend this treatment to teenagers across the UK and Ireland. More must be done across the board to help the youth of Britain deal with their mental health concerns and access more treatment options, and it is my hope that Smart TMS are able to play a significant part in the road to achieving health and happiness for young people everywhere”.
