September is in full swing! What’s going on at Gladstone? Check out our latest mental health news.
In this issue:
- Gladstone is now offering Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for treatment resistant depression! Immediate openings!
- Immediate openings available for medication management with a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner.
- How to Stop Arguing With Your Child
- September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Here’s what to do when your child talks about suicide.
TMS for Treatment Resistant Depression
TMS is a non-invasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate specific areas of the brain associated with mood regulation. During the procedure, technicians use a device that generates a magnetic field with an electrical pulse that stimulates neurons in a targeted area of the brain. The treatment specifically targets the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain involved in mood regulation. During a TMS session, patients sit in a comfortable chair while a technician places a treatment coil against their head. The machine then delivers magnetic pulses to stimulate brain cells.
Here are some of the features and benefits of TMS:
- Tailored treatment for patients with treatment resistant depression
- Experienced psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners
- Technicians and staff who are focussed on a comforting and nurturing patient experience
- Covered by most major insurance plans
- Daily treatments (Monday through Friday) for 5-6 weeks
- Effective, evidence based treatment that has been proven to relieve depression symptoms in patients who have previously not responded to other treatments
- 30%-48% of patients experience full remission of their depression symptoms
- Relief of depressive symptoms after TMS concludes lasts anywhere from 6 to 9 months to indefinitely
- FDA approved since 2008, with ongoing research that is continually improving the treatment
If you would like to receive TMS at Gladstone, you can request an appointment online. You can also call us at 443-708-5856 or email new.patient@gladstonepsych.com.
Openings Available for Medication Management
Many of our psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners have space available for new patients. If you are seeking medication management, you can request an appointment online. Or you can give us a call at 443-708-5856 or email new.patient@gladstonepsych.com. Usually, new patient appointments can be scheduled within one to two months.
How to Stop Arguing With Your Child
How to stop arguing with your child? This is one of the most common questions we receive from the parents of our adolescent patients. Many parents know this routine well. Your teen asks for permission to do something that you are not comfortable with–say they want to stay out past curfew with a friend you’ve never met before. You tell them no, and they begin to argue. Your child demands to know your reasons and then says your reasons don’t make sense. You re-explain your concerns for their safety and they argue back. It seems like the argument will never end.
These constant arguments can be exhausting and frustrating for both parents and teens. They also strain your relationship with your kids and get in the way of developing healthy problem-solving skills.
“If it becomes a power struggle, nobody wins,” says Melanie J Haynes, LCPC, a child therapist at Gladstone Psychiatry and Wellness, adding that she sees this issue a lot with the families she treats.
What to Do When Your Child Expresses Suicidal Thoughts
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a time to shed light on a topic that we often avoid due to stigma and fear. For parents, it’s frightening to imagine that this issue might affect your own kids. Sadly, suicide and suicidal thoughts impact many children, teens, and young adults. For that reason, we are focusing today on what to do when your child expresses suicidal thoughts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that young people ages 10-24 years old account for 15 percent of all suicides in the U.S., and suicide is the second leading cause of death for this age group. All in all, there were 7,126 completed suicides in this age group between 2018 and 2022.
The rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among young people have increased in recent years. CDC data show that for every suicide death, there are 52 suicide attempts and 336 people who seriously considered suicide in the last year. One study found that 20 percent of teens have seriously considered suicide. The rates are even higher among American Indian and Alaskan Native teens (25%), girls (27%), and LGBTQ+ teens (43%).