Something changed and getting out of bed was no longer the “hardest thing in the world” for this teenager.
The depression had hung heavy over Courtney, sapping her of motivation for years despite the medications and therapy.
Then last year – aged 17 – she joined a world-first trial that is beaming magnetic fields onto the brains of depressed children.

Most days for a month she would sit in a chair for about 20 minutes while an electromagnetic coil was rested against the side of her head.
It made a loud tapping sound, like a woodpecker.

A few weeks after she finished the treatment Courtney noticed it wasn’t so hard getting out of bed in the morning. Not just get up but go out and do things, things she would find she could enjoy.
Her mood started to slip a couple of months later and she underwent a booster treatment. That was two months ago and she says she still doesn’t feel depressed.

“I don’t have that constant heavy feeling or numb feeling,” Courtney said. “It was after a few years of trying different things and nothing really working and then finally something did work and it was just like a whole different world.
“I just noticed that I didn’t sleep all day and I didn’t stay in bed all day and I could get up without it being like the hardest thing in the world.”

– Rania Spooner

Read More: Teens Test Magnetic Therapy for Treatment-Resistant Depression

Image by Fernando from Unsplash