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Abstract

A method for treating psychiatric diseases such as Affective Disorder (including Major Depression and Bipolar Disorder), Anxiety Disorder (including General Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Panic Disorder) by stimulation (either electrical and/or chemical) of the thalamus, and in particular a region within the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus. The method includes the steps of determining a common group of patients, each suffering from a common specific diagnosis for a psychological disorder; determining which common region of the patients' thalami are involved in carrying the pathological electrical signals and/or metabolic activity which may otherwise be generated in dissimilar and disparate regions of the brains of the patients; surgically implanting an electrode and/or catheter and electrical signal generating device and/or drug pump such that the electrode and/or catheter is positioned within the region of the thalamus identified as the dorsomedial nucleus; and selectively adjusting the level of electrical and/or chemical stimulation in accordance with the specific effect of the stimulation of the patient. In particular, the region of the thalamus most frequently associated with the aforementioned psychiatric disease is the dorsomedial nucleus.

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