THE STUDY OF REPETITIVE TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATION (RTMS) ON SOCIAL FUNCTIONING IN PATIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSION DISORDER WHO DRUG RESISTANT

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of rTMS on social functioning in patients with major depression disorder who are drug resistant. Method: Twelve Patients with major depression disorder in a quasi-experimental one group time-series design were treated with 30 sessions of 20-Hz rTMS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC). All the patients were assessed with Social Adaptation Self Evaluation (SASS) before and after rTMS and 1.5 months after treatment. Results: The results showed a significant improvement of patients in SASS (p Conclusion: rTMS can affect social functioning in patients with major depression disorder and probably these effects are associated with Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal axis.