High-Frequency rtms Improved Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder: A Case Report

Abstract

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) known as social phobia, is one of the common anxiety disordersdiagnosed by clinically significant fear and anxiety in social situations, mainly when the others are judging the person.This study aimedto introduce a patient with treatment-resistant SADthat her symptomsresponded to Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS).It is a single case report and review of the relevant literature.A25-year-old female patient who suffered from social anxiety disorder showed a significant reduction of symptoms after delivering15 sessions of rTMS with a frequency of 10 pulse per second on her left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (2000 pulses in each session).According to the reduction of SPIN questionnaire scores at the end of rTMS sessions and 3 months later, the rTMS excitatory protocol on left DLPFC may increase the activity of this region and its metabolism, and reduce social anxiety symptoms, and could have a therapeutic effect on the patients with SAD.