Treating OCD, depression with deep brain stimulation
About 1 in 40 American adults and 1 in 100 children suffer from OCD - obsessive compulsive disorder.
Main symptoms include obsessions and compulsions, driving the person to engage in unwanted, oftentimes distress behaviors or thoughts, and repetitive, ritualized behaviors that the person feels driven to perform. It's typically treated through a combination of psychiatric medications and psychotherapy, but now there's an alternative treatment - deep brain stimulation.
On the Factor to talk about this treatment is Dr. Sameer Sheth, neurosurgeon at Baylor College of Medicine and Baylor St. Luke’s.