A note to our listeners, this episode contains references to suicide.

I have good news.

Treatment for people with depression is better than it was.

And it's getting better still.

So that's good news.

God, I love good news. It's Depression Mode. I'm

John Moe. I'm glad you're here. That's good news. I'm glad you're here, and I'm glad to

share with you some new findings from the scientific community on this week's show.

My guest on the show this week is Dr. Leanne Williams.

She's got a long job title, Buckle Up, Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University,

also the founding director of the Stanford Center for Precision Mental Health and Wellness,

and of the precision psychiatry and translational neuroscience laboratory at the Stanford Medical School.

Smart person. There was a word in there, probably flew right by you, precision. That is the focus of what we're talking about with her today.

Dr. Williams recently released findings of a big research study having to do with precision

treatment for people with major depressive disorder. That is, finding specific means for treating

depression depending on the brain and brain activity of a particular patient.

They conducted what are called functional MRIs, which is like an MRI, but in motion, like for a video.

They did this for a large group of people, like 800 people, some with depression, some without.

They found specific types of depression brains and were able to match them with

particular treatments, specific meds, therapies like TMS, or particular talk therapy approaches.

This is good news because it could signal a reduction in the method so many people run into

for treating depression, which is often just try a bunch

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