COVID-19 and Depression: Texas Mind Science: TMS Specialists

Person in Tension with Specs in his hand

Much of the toll that COVID-19 has taken in our country is easy to measure: the number of people who have tested positive for the disease, the number who have died, the number who have lost their jobs, the number of businesses that have closed, and much more.

But there’s another side to COVID-19 that is much more difficult to quantify: mental health struggles. Exact numbers will be hard to pin down for a while, but in one initial study of the psychological impact of the disease in China, researchers found that almost 35 percent of those who responded to a survey had psychological issues due to the pandemic.

If you already suffer from depression, COVID-19 has likely made your symptoms worse; if you didn’t have depression before the pandemic, chances are the outbreak has taken at least some sort of mental toll on you.

At Texas Mind Science, with offices in Richardson and Flower Mound, Texas, we are here to help you through the difficulties caused by COVID-19.

Depression and COVID-19

Normal symptoms of depression include pessimism and hopelessness, fatigue, insomnia, irritability, loss of interest in pleasurable things, and feelings of sadness and emptiness that won’t go away.

Guess what? All of these things can be exacerbated by COVID-19. Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your family can overwhelm you. Worrying about your job and your financial situation can be highly stressful. Social distancing can keep you isolated and lonely, trapped with just your own thoughts to keep you company.

Your family has also all been jolted out of the daily routines that bring them comfort and reassurance. Your kids have had everything familiar yanked away from them in the blink of an eye.

You wouldn’t be normal if all of this didn’t affect your mental health.

What to do?

First, it’s important that you do whatever is necessary to continue (or begin) a mental health routine. If you regularly saw a therapist or doctor before COVID-19 struck, use telehealth options if possible to continue that care.

If you did not have a therapist or mental health professional before, most offices are seeing patients via telehealth. Don’t be afraid to reach out.

Your doctor may recommend therapy; he or she may also prescribe some short-term medications to help you deal with the mental load you’re facing, especially if anxiety is beginning to take a toll, if you’re not sleeping well, or if depression is threatening to overwhelm you.

You don’t have to worry about being stuck on medicine for the rest of your life. It’s perfectly normal to use medical help to get through intense situations such as the COVID-10 pandemic.

What is CloudTMS Therapy?

At Texas Mind Science, we also provide a treatment for depression called CloudTMS that uses a magnetic field to stimulate electrical activity in the brain. Depending on your situation, your doctor may recommend this avenue of treatment.

When the areas of your brain that are linked to depression are stimulated with an electromagnetic coil, your neurotransmitter levels increase, which improves your depression. This treatment works best with multiple sessions to create a cumulative effect, so doctors usually begin with sessions five times a week for four to six weeks, then re-evaluate.

If COVID-19 has affected your mental health and you need some help, contact Texas Mind Science today. You can call either of our offices or schedule your appointment with our convenient online scheduler.

We are all in this crisis, and we will get through it — together.