{"id":287304,"date":"2026-01-16T09:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T09:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/287304\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T09:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T09:38:14","slug":"stanfords-noninvasive-brain-treatment-for-depression-proves-helpful-the-mercury-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/287304\/","title":{"rendered":"Stanford\u2019s noninvasive brain treatment for depression proves helpful \u2013 The Mercury News"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kristen Rogers, CNN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Summer passed Valerie Zeko by when she was 27, as she vegged out on the couch watching TV instead of seeing friends or exploring the overcast beach near her house. She later learned that period was her first episode of depression.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like the fog was in my head as well as outside,\u201d said Zeko, now 57, describing the mood disorder that would squelch her happiness, motivation and self-esteem for 28 years until she finally found effective treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything in my life appeared to be perfect and wonderful, but my head was full of this really bad, negative self-talk constantly,\u201d Zeko told CNN. \u201cI felt like my whole life was falling apart around me. I couldn\u2019t get things done in my house.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Zeko first sought help in 2011, her doctor prescribed the antidepressant bupropion, which Zeko took on and off for several years. It made her feel more energized, but sometimes that boost morphed into anxiety. Then Zeko and a psychiatrist tried to tackle her mood disorder with a series of seven other antidepressants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just either didn\u2019t work at all, made it worse, made me feel suicidal,\u201d she said. Other \u201chorrible\u201d side effects included urinary issues, headaches, nightmares, emotional numbness and fatigue, Zeko said.<\/p>\n

Zeko\u2019s predicament fit what experts call treatment-resistant depression, which isn\u2019t a formal diagnosis separate from major depressive disorder. Instead, experts may use the term, or TRD for short, to characterize depression unimproved by one or more validated, conventional treatments for depression, said psychiatrist Dr. Brandon Bentzley, cofounder and chief scientific officer of Magnus Medical, a neurotechnology company. Nearly one-third<\/a> of the 332 million people<\/a> worldwide with depression fall into the treatment-resistant category.<\/p>\n

The year 2023 was when Zeko\u2019s depression \u201cwas really bad, when I was desperate,\u201d she said. Though Zeko never contemplated taking her own life, she began to understand why two acquaintances who had died by suicide had considered that an option.<\/p>\n

Then a friend recommended that Zeko sign up for a randomized controlled clinical trial testing an innovative, five-day therapy for treatment-resistant depression at Stanford University<\/a>\u2019s Brain Stimulation Lab<\/a> in California. Called SAINT, for Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy<\/a>, the treatment sends quick magnetic pulses to a targeted region in a patient\u2019s prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is a core region for emotional and cognitive processing and regulation; its dysfunction is thought to be a key aspect of what causes depression.<\/p>\n

Within just the first week or so of receiving SAINT in November 2023, Zeko\u2019s ability to enjoy life \u2014 the lack of which is a hallmark symptom of depression \u2014 significantly improved.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a few days later, my whole family had Thanksgiving in San Francisco, and we rented e-bikes and rode our bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge,\u201d Zeko said. \u201cI had done this before and never enjoyed it. I was always like, \u2018Oh, my butt hurts, it\u2019s freezing, it\u2019s loud, I can\u2019t wait for this to be over.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time, it was a whole different experience,\u201d Zeko added. \u201cI was like, \u2018I want to do everything that I have always done again, because it\u2019s so much better now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n