Brain stimulation therapy is a procedure that uses electrodes or magnets in the brain or on the scalp to treat some serious mental disorders that do not respond successfully to commonly used psychotherapies and medications. There are several types of brain stimulation therapies, including electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), magnetic seizure therapy (MST), and deep brain stimulation (DBS).
Of these, ECT is the oldest and most widely used procedure. The other brain stimulation therapies are interventions that are sometimes used to treat other medical conditions, or they are newly developed therapies, but more research needs to be done to determine their effectiveness and safety in treating mental disorders.