Is TMS for Me?

• Are you 18 or older? Medicare funds TMS for adults. Under 18, a course can be privately funded on the same clinical criteria after psychiatric assessment.
• Has depression been diagnosed? TMS is established for major depression and anxious depression. OCD is considered case by case and is self-funded.
• Have two or more antidepressants not helped enough? This is the Medicare criterion and the group TMS was developed for. Bring the names of the medicines you have tried.
• Is there anything in or near your head that a magnet could affect? Metal implants, cochlear implants, pacemakers and some other devices need to be discussed with the psychiatrist, as does any history of seizures.
• Can you attend? At least three sessions a week for four to six weeks, each around twenty minutes. Most people fit sessions around work.

If you answered yes to the first three and nothing in the fourth applies, TMS is worth a conversation. The thirty-second Medicare check tells you whether a rebate is likely.

If you have not yet tried medication or talking therapy, those remain the first-line treatments and your GP is the right person to start with. TMS also does not replace the care of your GP or psychiatrist; it adds to it, and most people continue their medication during the course. If the assessment finds TMS is not appropriate, the psychiatrist will say so, explain why, and help you find what is.

Ask your GP or psychiatrist for a referral to the treating psychiatrist, or send an enquiry and we will explain the pathway. The assessment confirms whether TMS fits, settles Medicare eligibility, and gives you the cost in writing before anything begins.