MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMISSION APPROVES LA COUNTY INNOVATION PROJECT
April 26, 2018
Anaheim–Emotions ran high Thursday following heartrending testimonials from several individuals who described living with, and overcoming, severe mental illness challenges.
The testimonials, which took place at the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission meeting April 26, were in support of a Los Angeles County proposal to launch a Mobile Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) program.
“My name is Nicole Sela and two years ago Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation saved my daughter’s life,” Sela said. “When Sophie was just 12 years old, she experienced her first panic attack. It came out of nowhere and exposed a side of her I had never seen before. It terrified me because for the first time in her life I could not calm her. This was the first of many more to come.”
Sela said Sophie’s psychiatrist described her as the “most profoundly depressed patient he had ever treated.” Sophie tried numerous medications, but none worked. She tried several times to take her life. Her then-psychiatrist prescribed TMS.