The Spice Girls singer Melanie Brown has revealed that she underwent six weeks of unconventional brain therapy in an attempt to combat suicidal thoughts.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive procedure that uses a powerful electromagnet, placed on the scalp, to produce electric currents in parts of the brain involved in mood control.
It is sometimes used in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders when other conventional treatments and medication have not been effective.
According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), it raises no major safety concerns, but more research is needed to understand how well it works.
The pop star, known as Mel B, has become a campaigner against domestic violence after escaping what she claims was a physically, emotionally and financially abusive ten-year marriage to Stephen Belafonte.
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She said she turned to the unusual treatment in desperation last year after a legal battle with her ex-husband over custody of their 12-year-old daughter, Madison.
She revealed that she went to a private clinic in the Balearic Islands last year, where she had electro-cranial magnetic therapy almost every day for six weeks. She claimed the treatment “renewed, rewired and shocked” parts of her brain.
She wrote: “In a remote part of an island in the Balearics, I am lying back in a padded chair as a man fixes a grey cap made from high-precision elasticated fabric on my head.
“He carefully checks that all my jewellery has been removed, then gently pulls a metal contraption — containing an intricate electromagnetic coil shaped into a figure of eight — and places it on the right side of my skull. Tick, tick, tick.
“A series of magnetic pulses shoots into my brain. Fifteen minutes pass. The coils move to the left side. Bang, bang, bang. This time it hurts. I close my eyes. Surrender. I hear the man’s voice, ‘Are you okay, Melanie?’
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“My jaw is clenched tight, but I force out the words. ‘Keep going.’
“Somewhere deep inside this head of mine, an electric current generated by a hi-tech transcranial magnetic stimulation machine is renewing, rewiring and shocking thousands of neurons battered by years of extreme trauma, by depression I couldn’t admit to and anger I couldn’t shake.
“The pain I am feeling right now is fighting the pain I carry in my head, in my body, in every breath I take. It overwhelms me. A single tear leaks down my face.”
The treatment brought some relief, she said. “I have finally found some peace and the sleep that has eluded me for years.”
Brown said: “I know it sounds extreme but I had tried other therapies.
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“Talking therapy brought everything up again and I didn’t want to say the things that had happened to me, even to a professional. So I did this to guinea-pig myself. I wanted to try it.”
In an updated version of her autobiography, Brutally Honest, which is being serialised in The Sun on Sunday, Brown also revealed she was only left with £700 to her name and secretly shopped in Lidl to make ends meet after leaving “abusive” Belafonte.
The custody battle had a devastating impact on her mental health, she said. “I drank too much, slept too little, and that trauma I kept locked inside me exploded into a wrecking ball of fear, confusion and an anger that I will never be able to articulate.
“I fought with the people I love. I was so very, very angry. I developed tics, my head jerking back and forth, making me feel even more out of control.”
The cycle continued until autumn last year when she broke down. “In the hours that followed, I spoke to people I trust and to a therapist who recommended a clinic that dealt with extreme trauma,” she said.
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Brown, 48, has previously described how she has “tried everything that you can possibly think of when it comes to health and fitness,” from cryotherapy (cold therapy) to water diets.
She is a patron of Women’s Aid, the domestic violence survivors’ charity, and was appointed an MBE in 2022 for her services to charitable causes vulnerable women.
What is Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation?
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is not widely available on the NHS. Private clinics typically offer five sessions a week, over a course of four to six weeks. Costs vary from £3,500 to £5,000 for the first 20 sessions.
It is usually considered for patients with severe depression that has not responded to antidepressant medication or talking therapies.
The procedure is non-invasive. It does not need anaesthesia and can be done on an out-patient basis. It involves placing an electromagnetic coil against the scalp to induce electric currents in the brain. Imaging may be used to help target specific areas of the brain. Repetitive pulses of electromagnetic energy are delivered at various frequencies or intensities.
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According to guidance by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, the treatment “stimulates the brain and causes ‘neuroplasticity’. This is the brain’s ability to mend and build connections between nerve cells. For depression, the left side of the prefrontal cortex is stimulated, restoring the connections to help it work as it should, without the symptoms of depression”.
The guidance adds: “For anxiety, a related area on the right side is treated, but with a sequence of pulses that reduces activity, since this area has become overactive. Some people require both treatments, which can be delivered in the same session.”
Side-effects may include headaches and some muscle twitching. There is a low risk of seizure and it is not recommended for anyone with epilepsy.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says there are no major safety concerns around its use for conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder, but it cautioned that more research is needed to assess its efficacy.
