Dr. Pranav M. Jagtap, M.D.
Psych3 Bridge to web3
Psych3 Bridge to web3

World Mental Health Day: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation is Wellness for the Brain

Today is World Mental Health Day

It’s important we raise awareness about available solutions that can dramatically reshape the course of our lives. One such therapy is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation is Wellness for the 🧠 With nearly zero side effects, TMS therapy promotes Equanimity and improves Quality of Life for many who try it.

Likewise, it’s also important we become aware of the reasons why such treatment options are not ubiquitously available. As we endeavor to navigate today’s unprecedented challenges, we must scrutinize those structures that have grown to become shackles.

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for Major Depressive Disorder (2008), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (2018), Smoking Cessation (2020), and Anxious Depression (2021).

However, TMS is neither a food nor a drug - so why should this institution have any regulatory authority over TMS?

Unfortunately, the FDA has fallen prey to Regulatory Capture resulting from perverse incentives that govern our Society today.

This is also the case for our Healthcare Systems, and for mainstream Psychiatry - or Psychiatry 2.0. Psychiatry 2.0 entails diagnoses based on a checklist of symptoms, which are targeted with pharmaceuticals to induce behavioral changes.

But this approach does not translate to enhancements in functionality, competence, self-efficacy, and well-being   

Therefore despite more healthcare spending than any other nation, we experience some of the worst outcomes.

Sometimes - it’s not despite of, but because of.

Our People - especially younger generations - have very little to look forward to. Nearly 50% of individuals in their 20s are living at home due to Inflation & extraordinarily high costs of living. Wealth Inequality is at all-time highs. No amount of pharmacotherapy and conventional approaches will address this.

How can a person be optimistic and future-oriented, when one is living paycheck-to-paycheck and barely able to make ends meet?

In order to promote Financial Security and Self-Reliance, Paradigm Psychiatry is offering education and guidance for onboarding to web3: the Value Layer of the Internet

Like using email, instant messengers, and browsing the web from the early 2000s became second nature, learning to use web3 tools and related skillsets will be extremely valuable moving forward. Decentralization is the foundation of our United States; consequently, familiarity with decentralized applications and protocols presents boundless opportunities that can lead to the realization of one’s full potential.

You are invited to try TMS Wellness for the brain 🧠 and claim your free NFT!

Visit the Patient Portal or call 947-207-1076 today!

Mental Health Awareness Month

“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of humankind is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.”
— C.G. Jung; Memories, Dreams, Reflections; p. 326

This quote eloquently captures the essence of an Empirical Science of the Psyche developed by Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. Also known as Analytical Psychology, this approach helps individuals to experience fuller & richer lives through connection with the hidden parts of their minds - by making the unconscious, conscious. This school of thought is applicable widely to not only Individuals, but also the Collective.

How can we apply this knowledge to raise Awareness during this very important time?

 

It would be valuable to become aware of realities that remain out of our Awareness

That is to say, Society is largely aware already that Mental Illness is shrouded in stigma which unfortunately promotes misunderstandings about the inner lives that are led by people with psychiatric disorders. This is especially applicable in cases of Severe Mental Illness (SMI). Patients with Mental Illness cannot advocate for themselves, and this can lead them to be mistreated, abused, or taken advantage of.

Despite Billions of dollars pouring in to Mental Health funding - a figure that nearly doubled from $2.1B in 2013 to $4B in 2023 - the overall situation appears to deteriorate.

What might we be missing?

“Show me the Incentives and I will show you the Outcome.”
— Charlie Munger; Business Partner with Warren Buffet

From the world of Finance, this golden insight is highly relevant today in the context of Mental Health Awareness Month.

When May was designated as Mental Health Awareness Month in 1949, Psychiatry was in a difficult position. The number of mentally ill patients and the Asylum Institutions in which they were hospitalized had grown overwhelmingly large. Fortunately, monumental psychopharmacology breakthroughs in the form of Lithium Carbonate for Bipolar Disorder (1948) and Chlorpromazine for Schizophrenia (1952) allowed for de-institutionalization. For the first time, we had tools which enabled the sick with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) to function in Society, humanely. Humanely, because prior to this, it was common for mentally ill patients to be restrained physically during the course of institutionalization. This primarily motivated the genesis of Mental Health America Organization and subsequent observance of Mental Health Awareness Month, driven by the founder Clifford Beers’ personal experiences of maltreatment during his psychiatric hospitalizations.

If the monetary incentives are geared towards increased prescriptions, how can we possibly connect that with improved Mental Health?

70 years later,

the situation has changed. Incentives that drove beneficial outcomes for Society in the past, may not yield the same the results today.

Whereas psychopharmacology is undoubtedly effective at alleviating debilitating symptoms of Severe Mental Illnesses like Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder, medications have limited efficacy in addressing conditions & symptoms like anxiety, depression, hopelessness, low motivation, lethargy, or chronic fatigue.

In Analytical Psychology, the latter would be broadly classified as the result of Neurosis - unresolved conflicts or tensions within one’s Psyche.

 

From Lack of Awareness to Awareness

Collectively, we need to understand that medications alone will not improve Mental Health; and therefore, neither will the funding of policies & directives that have demonstrably failed to benefit Society. Individually, each person must take Accountability. Once we acknowledge that we are responsible for our outcomes - negative or positive - we can shift the locus of control internally to unlock untapped potential. In Analytical lingo, an individual can reach Psychic Wholeness.

Importantly,

Psychic Wholeness is attained by harnessing Psychic Energy. The theoretical & subjective notion of Psychic Energy has been reconceptualized within objective frameworks of the Free Energy Principle & Active Inference. In other words, Systems of Knowledge advanced by pioneers in Psychiatry have been corroborated by deeper understandings of Entropy, or Disorder - which our Nervous System is perpetually striving to reverse.

And this is the simplest way to appreciate how Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation helps every individual by enhancing their mental state without side effects.

TMS empowers the Nervous System to minimize Free Energy

Under the hood, TMS drives beneficial changes throughout the various systems that comprise the Hierarchy of Life. More precisely, TMS nudges the Nervous System towards a state that is characterized by a more optimal minimization of Expected Free Energy & Variational Free Energy.

For a Network-level Mechanism of Action, see more: How does TMS relieve Depression?

This Scientific Jargon

can be best understood through the quote with which this post began:

In order to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being - to make the unconscious, conscious - Psychic Energy (Free Energy) must be redistributed within the Psyche.

Like Heat flows from hot to cold, Psychic Energy must flow from over-developed to under-developed aspects of the Psyche; Free Energy must find new equilibrium.

TMS optimizes Equilibrium

“Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.”
— Man, the Uknown; Alexis Carrel - Winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

We will end the post with this quote. As the saying goes: No pain, no gain.

Unlocking untapped potential requires growth, and growth does not happen without discomfort. In the context of Analytical Psychology, this process of Psychic Energy redistribution is known as Individuation. In our Society today, it is far too easy to externalize our internal conflicts by displacing them on to quick fixes like medications. The solution lies in Inner Work. By nudging the Nervous System towards a more optimal state, TMS makes such Inner Work more approachable.

With the proper guidance,

TMS can raise Awareness and facilitate Inner Work

If you or a loved one are,

  • dis-satisfied with medications and/or side effects

  • struggling to overcome cognitive fog, lethargy, fatigue, or other sequelae of Long COVID syndrome

  • seeking another opinion, or a fresh perspective

  • looking to take your life to the next level and thrive in the Information Age

then you owe it to yourself to:

Psych3 Bridge to web3

TL;DR:

Deploy the Archimedes’ Lever by Onboarding to web3 and Quadratically Funding our Gitcoin Grant

  • Gitcoin Grants Beta Round goes live on 4/25/23

  • Gitcoin Grants are funded via Quadratic Funding, which prioritizes the Voice of the People - Vires in Numeris

  • The more people that are onboarded to web3 and donate even $1, the more matching funds we unlock

  • This Value will be redistributed in our Society to fund the Public Good causes that matter; the ones that we decide are important such as: Education, First Responders, Youth & Community Mental Health, Energy, and much more

  • In our particular context of Community Mental Health, we will direct funds towards the acquisition EEG and related Neuro-Psychiatric biomarker equipment (see more below)

  • Psych3 is the Bridge that will onboard us to web3

Are you tired of mindlessly popping pills for whatever the “experts” believe, is ailing you? Bipolar Disorder, Schizoaffective Disorder, Schizophrenia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Manic Depression, ADHD, PTSD, and numerous related diagnostic labels are prescribed routinely – but what is the solution? We are currently in the midst of multiple crises:

  • Opioid Epidemic

  • Obesity Epidemic

  • Sleep Epidemic

  • Loneliness Epidemic

These crises had been brewing for a while, and very likely contributed cumulatively to the Global Pandemic.

Surely, something has gone awry here. We have missed something.

What is more valuable?

The superficial evaluation of your “behavioral symptoms,” or the totality of your phenomenological perception of reality?

Subjective behavioral changes assessed via rating scales, or Objective brain wave/EEG readings?

Imagine if chest pain were worked up based purely on clinical symptoms without an EKG – this is the state of mental healthcare today.

With these important questions & considerations in mind, Paradigm Psychiatry was incepted during the wake of the COVID pandemic

Since then, we have had the privilege of providing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to numerous patients. In contrast to the limited efficacy of psychotropic medications and their endless list of unfavorable side effects, TMS has induced positive outcomes in nearly every single individual. It has been helpful for any and every diagnosis, and also without any diagnoses. Side effects are basically zero. TMS enhances generalized well-being.

Some have even referred to it as “the closest thing to Magic.”

According to the Free Energy Principle, the existential mandate of our Nervous System is to engage in what is known as Active Inference. Learn more about this fascinating phenomenon in this video.

 

So, what’s the hold up? If it really is so magical, then why isn’t it more widely available?

As we came to learn first hand experientially, there exist Conflicts of Interest.

Every force in the world appeared to antagonize the provision of this essential healthcare intervention. For each person that opts to choose TMS, thousands of dollars locked up in futures contracts signed by Health Insurance companies stand to be voided. I.e., if you receive the treatment that helps you to feel better, somebody won’t be making the money they were expecting to.

Almost every patient has been forced to try and fail medications before receiving “authorization” for TMS. Some have experienced negative outcomes (e.g., Psychiatric Hospitalizations) in the process. These costs are incurred, ultimately, by us tax-payers.

TMS Policy implemented by the largest private health insurer in America

Clinical Judgment has been trumped by Greed.

The middlemen get away like bandits, and us Patients & Physicians are the ones left paying. These medications come with a litany of side effects and take time to exert their effects. Many of these side effects contribute to the epidemics mentioned above; e.g., weight gain & metabolic syndrome perpetuating the Obesity Epidemic. We pay not only with our Time & Money, but above all – our Health.

Such dynamics are tearing apart the Fabric of our Society.

Education and Schooling are perpetually under-funded. Medicare suffers cuts. Pensions are liquidated. Financial instability looms.

 

What can we do? Is there a solution?

YeS

We have to do the opposite of what we have been accustomed to.

Instead of delegating Trust to “experts” and “authorities” on the subject matter at hand, we have to establish consensus with each other and amongst each other.

This is the strength of America

Our Bill of Rights and the 1st Amendment grants us the inalienable rights to establish Peer-to-Peer Consensus. Psychiatry is an Art, and its foundation is also Decentralized & Peer-to-Peer.

With the Distributed Ledger Technology of Ethereum, we can collectively decide what should be valued, paid for, and reimbursed. This is the Magic of web3 & Smart Contracts. We, the People, become the Priority. This is Psych3:

Psych3 Bridge onboards us to web3, and it begins with the self-custodial & peer-to-peer acquisition of Decentralized Identities (DeID):

Is there an “EKG” for the brain?

Yes. This is EEG – short for Electroencephalography.

As mentioned earlier, the Nervous System engages in Active Inference in order to minimize its Free Energy - which can be understood as Information Entropy, or more generally, Disorder. EEG Waves are continuously output by our Brain. These objectively quantifiable patterns correlate tightly with various states of mind, including psychiatric illnesses.

EEG is non-invasive; it can be used to diagnose and monitor responses to interventions like TMS

 

Wouldn’t it be valuable for as many people as possible to have access to this?

Again, Conflicts of Interest prevent this technology from being widely accessible.

But this time, We, the People, can come together to change this.

It’s time to Deploy the Archimedes’ Lever! It’s time to onboard to web3