FDA approves new device for teens with severe depression

The Brief

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Nearly every study shows that teen depression is only increasing. Now, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is giving families another tool to fight severe depression.

The new tool is not a medication, but a device that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate the brain.

By the numbers:

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 20.1% of teenagers in the U.S. had at least one major depressive episode. At the same time, they estimate only 40.6% of them received any treatment.

What we know:

The treatment process starts with a cap created specially for each patient.

"The treatment is quite targeted, so you can see this dot F3. So this is measured off an XY-coordinate that shows exactly where to place the paddles," Juliane Popelka of American TMS Cl