I’ve been using this device since 2014. It zaps away my underlying depression and anxiety and also helps with my sleep. One friend said to me a couple of weeks into my treatment, “Why are you smiling all the time?”
David Levine writes in Scientific American in 2016:
I have been using the Fisher Wallace Stimulator, a portable, battery-powered generator permitted by the FDA for symptomatic relief of insomnia, anxiety and depression, and for treating chronic pain (although the agency recently proposed imposing new restrictions on such devices). It is a cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) device which stimulates the brain to produce serotonin and other neurochemicals. It is designed to be used for 20 minutes twice a day and may be used with or without medication in consultation with your doctor.
For me, the best part is that unlike ECT, TMS or other therapies, the Fisher Wallace Stimulator can be used at home and there is no risk of seizures. Your doctor has to prescribe it and you can buy the device on the company website for $699 (there is a $100 discount for Medicare, Medicaid, Veteran and First Responder Families) but can return it for a full discount if it doesn’t work within 30 days. Some insurance plans will pay for the device when it is prescribed for chronic pain. Mine did.
The Fisher Wallace Stimulator been shown effective in many studies including one in the Journal of Affective Disorders. The results of a pilot study for the treatment of bipolar disorder was published last year.
I have been using the Fisher Wallace Stimulator for about six years to help with my anxiety and chronic pain. I occasionally use it for insomnia as well. When I travel to a different time zone, I find it helpful with jet lag, although it is not one of the conditions it was set out to treat. I find it relaxing. I don’t feel like I am "shocking my brain," and it reminds me of how I felt when I practiced transcendental meditation in college.
