Will consumer-led transcranial direct current stimulation revolutionize or hurt mental health?

.

Ther­a­py Borne on Elec­tri­cal Cur­rents (The New York Times):

“…This is Thync, the lat­est in tran­scra­nial direct cur­rent stim­u­la­tion, or tDCS. The man­u­fac­tur­er says the device, to come out lat­er this year, can alter the user’s mood in min­utes via elec­tric cur­rent…until recent­ly, it was most­ly hob­by­ists –nine-volt bat­ter­ies stuck to their heads — who exper­i­ment­ed with tDCS as a means of improv­ing con­cen­tra­tion, ver­bal and com­pu­ta­tion abil­i­ties, and cre­ativ­i­ty. But in the last few years, sev­er­al com­pa­nies have intro­duced slick con­sumer devices, among them Foc.us, whose head­set and con­troller cost $298, and The Brain Sim­u­la­tor, whose advanced starter kit costs $150…

If Thync does work, some men­tal health pro­fes­sion­als wor­ry it could dis­tract users from devel­op­ing their own cop­ing skills.”

Learn more: 

• Tran­scra­nial Direct Cur­rent Stim­u­la­tion (tDCS) as depres­sion treat­ment: much promise, some DIY risks
• The Sharp­Brains Guide to Brain Fit­ness: How to Opti­mize Brain Health and Per­for­mance at Any Age