South Charleston doctor treats depression without pills - WBOY.com: Clarksburg, Morgantown: News, Sports, Weather

"Major depression, I didn't even want to be around myself, that's how bad it was," said Kathy Abbot.

Kathy Abbot describes her old life; before she started getting Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or TMS therapy to treat her depression...that's when she says everything changed.

"I think I'm 100% better."

She gets the treatment at PsyCare in South Charleston.

This device uses a pulse of magnetic power to generate a small electrical field in the brain; stimulating parts that control depression.

"Essentially, if I were to stimulate any part of the brain cortex relating to these various parts of the body, you would see that part of the body move, " said Dr. Russ Voltin.

"Doctors who use the therapy say it's great because it's pill free," I said.

"I've taken about every pill on the market, nothing seemed to work," said Abbot.

Not everyone supports the treatment; some insurance companies don't cover it .

Even though the FDA approved the treatment in 2008...doctors say it can take a long time for members of the medical community to accept newer procedures.

"I was skeptic about it but once I started it, about 2 or 3 days later, I really started feeling like it was doing better for me," Abbot said.

Abbot says it is working for her, and she has been pill-free for a year now.