Summary
This is the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Hello, everybody. How we doing? Today, I'm talking to my man, Tim Ferriss, who is these days leading, in his words, a different life. Life. As some of you may know, Tim has a long and difficult history with OCD, anxiety, depression, and trauma. Today, you're going to hear him talk very candidly about what he's done to create this different life.
Key Points
- So every hour on the hour, 10 hours a day for one week, you're going in and getting, let's just call it a few minutes, three to nine minutes of pulses on your brain.
- But for people who are interested, I really recommend the conversation I did with Nolan Williams.
- Instead of doing five days, I did one day, but I pre-dosed with something called D-cycloserine.
- It seems to be particularly effective, yes, for depression, but it seems to be particularly effective in a very small sample size at this point for anxiety and OCD.
- And also, like, how strong is the evidence?.
- So, what I'll say is that the evidence for TMS broadly, there are decades of evidence with different applications of TMS.
Key Moments
Ferriss explains accelerated TMS to the 10% Happier audience
Ferriss introduces accelerated TMS to Dan Harris's audience, explaining it as a type of brain stimulation that has existed for decades but was recently revolutionized by compressed treatment protocols.
"There is something that some of your listeners may have never heard of, which is accelerated TMS. TMS stands for transcranial magnetic stimulation. It's a type of brain stimulation that has existed for a very long time."
One-day D-cycloserine protocol produces overnight results
Ferriss describes his breakthrough experience with a one-day accelerated TMS protocol pre-dosed with D-cycloserine, which flipped a switch on his anxiety essentially overnight after previous five-day courses had diminishing returns.
"And I started to lose hope again because I thought this was going to be a replicable, reliable tool that I could use. I was so excited and did a Hail Mary kind of last ditch round with the accelerated TMS recently. I did this in Northern California. Instead of doing five days, so keep in mind, it's like, let's just call it three."
SAINT protocol achieves 70-80% depression remission
Ferriss presents the clinical evidence for the SAINT protocol, noting it produces 70-80% remission rates for depression that are quite durable, requiring periodic booster sessions rather than being a one-time cure.
"The SANT protocol in many, let's call them patients, produces 70, 80% remission of depression that is quite durable. It's not one shot, you're done."
Zero anxiety for months after TMS treatment
Ferriss describes the dramatic effect of his earlier five-day TMS course, which eliminated anxiety and rumination for three to four months, unlike anything he had experienced including psychedelic-assisted therapies.
"And then flipped a switch and had basically zero anxiety, zero rumination for let's call it three to four months. I've never experienced anything like it. And that includes psychedelic assisted therapies, which I know very well."
