Thank you for sending prayers. Heard from him this evening. Relieved that he’s alive but I know he’s struggling.

He’s on week two of six of TMS treatment.

Glad you heard from him.  Keep praying.  You sound like a very good friend to this vet.  He's still in my prayers too.

I hope you can still stay in contact with your friend.  And I hope this treatment works for him.  I've dealt with Major Depression myself since around 1987 or so.  Around 2008 I had 30 ECTs.  It wasn't until I had over 20 of them that I started to notice things changing for the better.  What helped me the most after the ECTs was that I found that I wasn't stuck dwelling on negative, sad, and suicidal thoughts.  After the ECTs if a suicidal thought or negative/sad thought came up, I could let go of it and think about something else and not dwell on it.  The suffering was reduced tremendously.  It gave me 10 good years without the worst of the suffering and mental anguish.  In the last few years, it started coming back slowly.  The type of treatment your friend is getting was recommended to me.  I just haven't followed up on it and researched it yet so I don't know much about it.   I do know that your friend has probably been through a lot of suffering over the years if this treatment is being recommended to him.   Keep praying for him.  His situation and yours has kind of stuck with me and I've still been praying for you both off and on throughout the days.  And I know it's a handful for family and friends to deal with this.  I hope this TMS works as well or better as the ECTs for him. If it doesn't at least let him know there is another option, although the ECTs will tremendously reduce the mental suffering there are drawbacks.  But maybe knowing there is at least one more shot can give him some hope to hang on to.

Thank you for sharing and for your continued prayers.

I got a text from him yesterday saying he was thinking he was going back home. Haven’t heard from him yet today.

Hard to get him to say much.

From what I gather, this treatment is pretty rough, at least for my friend. When I spoke to him last week, he had told me that before they do the treatment each day, they always ask on a scale of 1-10 what level your depression is at, with 1 being the worst, 10 best. He told them last Friday he was at a 2. Apparently it gets worse before it gets better. At least that’s what the nurse told him.

It’s five days a week for six weeks. Three minute sessions. Doesn’t sound bad, but he told me it feels like an eternity. Painful and uncomfortable. He bit his tongue so hard it bled one day. I told him to get a mouth guard. He’s at the halfway point now at least. Just hoping and praying he can keep it together and that it ends up paying off.

I hope all is going well with your friend and he has stayed in contact with you.  When I got the most down, I pulled away from all my friends and co-workers and tried to pull away from my wife.  She wouldn't have it though and became the one person that was there.

I'm really hoping he reaches that point with his TMS treatments where he actually starts feeling better.  He's got to stick with it and should be encouraged to stick with it.  I'd been fighting with depression for many years and just never got much relief from meds.  Initially, I had hopes that the ECTs would help me, but after 15 or so I started feeling that it was just like the meds and wouldn't change anything, and I felt like giving up.   Somewhere after 20 treatments though I started feeling better.   He's got to be encouraged to stick with the TMS.

Anyway, you all are still in my prayers and I'm hoping there's going to be improvement.

I’m still praying for him and his family. Thank you for continuing to pray and think of him.

He actually came by my house earlier this week. We spent a few hours together. Can’t express how happy I was to see him and how good it was to hang out.

Got him to open up a little bit. He’s overwhelmed with this treatment, working his job and running his side business, taking care of his family and dealing with other medical issues. He’s embarrassed with his struggles and is in his own head.

He seemed better but he’s struggling with his relationship with his wife and confessed to losing his faith.

I’ve been talking with him and his wife to trust in God and to rekindle the love that they have for each other. They both are failing to communicate and it’s killing their relationship.

While he was with me, he got a call from his wife and I told him to answer it. He went out of earshot and came back looking defeated. He asked if he could stay the night and I let him stay in my spare bedroom. He left to go to his treatment first thing the next morning.

He told me he wanted to try to be with his family for Thanksgiving. I haven’t heard back from him today yet so I’m hoping it’s because he’s busy with work and being with his family.

After this week he should be at the halfway mark with the treatments.

I remember coming to this thread when I first joined ARFCOM. Now I come here again...

I'm still struggling with addiction and haven't made good progress towards recovery. Feeling depressed at times, and lacking the masculine 'charge' to just go right ahead and face my problems. The internet and addiction have become normalized forms of cowardice for me to 'take to the bottle' instead of being an outright alcoholic.

Fellow brethren who are struggling with addiction, you're not alone in this here...