Robots In My Head: Deep Brain Stimulation

Out of Patients Episode #298

So I'm *totally* paraphrasing and not even remotely doing this episode justice to it's insane awesomeness BUT...

Jon Nelson underwent deep brain stimulation where they put magnet things in his brain controlled by an Atari 2600 joystick. The result? It cured his treatment-resistant major depressive disorder. (Totally scientifically accurate.)

And he joined me live in-studio at OffScrip Health studios in downtown Manhattan along with Dr. Helen Mayer, a neurologist, and psychiatrist at the Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics.

A former healthcare communications executive, Jon is a living, breathing example of hope and progress in the mental health ecosystem. But don't get us started on the considerable healthcare shenanigans surrounding all of this, including access, pre-authorizations, approvals, coverage, emerging skepticism, and, of course, massive stigma.

Mind blown. (Literally and figuratively)