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Why it's done
By Mayo Clinic staff
Standard treatment with antidepressant medications, psychotherapy or electroconvulsive therapy often can help improve even severe cases of depression. But if these standard depression treatments don't work, vagus nerve stimulation might be an option.
When to consider vagus nerve stimulation
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vagus nerve stimulation for depression in 2005, but only for these specific situations:
- You're age 18 or older.
- You have treatment-resistant depression.
- You have long-term, chronic depression that has lasted two or more years.
- You have recurrent or severe depression.
- Your depression hasn't improved after the use of at least four other treatments, such as four different antidepressants.
There's one vagus nerve on each side of your body. The nerve runs from your brainstem through your neck and down to your chest and abdomen. Information travels through this nerve to and from your central nervous system. The pulse generator sends electrical signals along your vagus nerve up into your brain, where it's hoped that these electrical signals will create a reaction that improves your mood and reduces depression symptoms.
Keep in mind that vagus nerve stimulation doesn't guarantee that your depression symptoms will get better. In fact, the use of the procedure for depression is controversial, even though it was FDA approved to treat epilepsy in 1997. Some mental health experts don't recommend its use for depression, and research evidence about its effectiveness is mixed. The FDA advises that vagus nerve stimulation be used only along with traditional depression treatments. Some health insurance companies may not cover the procedure.
