Traumatic experiences can cause brain changes that result in the traumatic memory being stuck in a loop in particular brain circuits. The brain’s ability to process these traumatic memories also becomes impaired. Your brain’s normal healthy state or “default mode network” shifts to a state where the limbic (emotional) mind becomes more active with less control from the frontal cortex.

Traditional treatments for PTSD symptoms typically involve psychotherapy, like trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, and pharmacotherapy, including SSRIs. Yet, these standard approaches yield a clinically meaningful response in only about 50% of patients, and as many as 72% fail to achieve remission (1).

Research spanning the last decade reveals that rTMS therapy can substantially
alleviate the core symptoms of PTSD in over 60% of individuals resistant to traditional treatments (1,2). This includes reducing intrusive flashbacks and nightmares, diminishing hyperarousal, lessening avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, and improving negative changes in mood and cognition.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive, highly effective treatment that uses electromagnetic impulses that pass easily through the skull to stimulate abnormal brain activity without any systematic side effects or downtime.

1. Petrosino, N. J., Cosmo, C., Berlow, Y. A., Zandvakili, A., van’t Wout-Frank, M., & Philip, N. S. (2021). Transcranial magnetic stimulation for post-traumatic stress disorder. Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology, 11, 20451253211049921.
2. Kan, R. L., Zhang, B. B., Zhang, J. J., & Kranz, G. S. (2020). Non-invasive brain stimulation for posttraumatic stress disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Translational psychiatry, 10(1), 1-12.