At Brigham and Women's Hospital we offer a range of interventional psychiatric services to meet the clinical needs of the patients in our community.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
We currently offer ECT to patients on our inpatient psychiatric unit and our inpatient medical units for the treatment of variety of psychiatric disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, catatonia, and schizophrenia. We are committed to the continued recovery of the patients treated in our hospital and offer outpatient ECT treatment to those who have already received ECT from the inpatient services. We are currently exploring expanding the service to include an independent outpatient clinic to continue to advance care to those in need.
Ketamine/Esketamine
These two medications offer novel antidepressant treatment to those who suffer from treatment refractory major depressive disorder (as defined by depression that fails to respond to two or more antidepressants, ECT, and/or TMS). Delivered through clinics with attention to how set and setting impact recovery, esketamine and ketamine offer an alternative treatment pathway to those who have not had a satisfactory response to standard treatments.
Long acting injectable antipsychotic (LAIs) medications – LAIs are proven to improve compliance and certain measures of recovery for those who suffer from psychotic illnesses (such as schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder) and bipolar disorder. These medications deliver anywhere between 2-12 weeks of medication in one injection and resolve the need for daily, oral medications. We offer a range a long acting injectable medications that are prescribed by psychiatrists in the BWFH system.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
We currently offer TMS in the Hale Building for Transformative Medicine (BTM). This focal, non-invasive form of brain stimulation is most frequently used for difficult-to-treat depression, but it can also help migraine headaches, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and smoking cessation. TMS does not involve anesthesia. Thus, there are no restrictions on activities like work, school, or driving (and parking in the BTM garage is free during treatment). TMS is a safe and effective treatment that can work well with the medications and therapy that patients are already receiving from their primary treatment team. If you'd like to learn more about TMS, please click here.
