The Food and Drug Administration has taken an active role in approving new therapies to treat depression this week. On August 23, the Inquisitr reported that the FDA approved a new form of transcranial magnetic stimulation to help ease treatment-resistant depression. The new TMS treatment cuts down the number of treatments needed as well as significantly reduces the time for treatment from more than a half an hour to just three minutes.
On August 22, a company called Compass Pathways announced that the FDA had given them the green light for a new treatment for depression involving psilocybin, or “magic mushrooms.” Compass Pathways is a life sciences company founded in London, England, in 2016. They are developing a clinical trial using psilocybin therapy for European and North American patients with treatment-resistant depression.