SANP Swiss Archives of Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy 2297-7007 2297-6981 EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG Farnsburgerstrasse 8 CH-4132 Muttenz 03058 10.4414/sanp.2019.03058 Review article Schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders Clinical use of brain stimulation in psychiatry – a motivated review Walther Sebastian sebastian.walther@upd.unibe.ch SWITZERLAND 13 09 2019 170 05 0 0 Copyright: EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG 2019 EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG "Swiss Archives of Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy" is an open access publication of EMH published in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons licence attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives 4.0 International. You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material. "Non-commercial" means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation. The incorporation of publications in commercial products, the use of publications to advertise for commercial products or services and any other usage that directly or indirectly pursues commercial interests is subject to the express previous consent of the publishing house as part of a written agreement. Please send us your request in writing. Exact indication of the publication from which you would like to reproduce material and detailed information about its intended use help to facilitate and expedite request processing. <p>The combination of different treatment modalities has advanced psychiatric therapy, particularly for chronic or treatment restistant psychiatric conditions. While the field has successfully integrated psychotherapy approaches, pharmacotherapy, and rehabilitation, a novel group of brain stimulation techniques could offer new options augmenting classical psychiatric treatment. This review summarizes basic principles of transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulaiton, electroconvulsive therapy and deep brain stimulation. Brain stimulation allows for targeted transient modulation of cortical network activity. Electroconvulsive therapy already is a standard treatment in chronic depression. Evidence suggests that non-invasive brain stimulation may be successfully combined with pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy in treatment resistant affective disorders or schizophrenia. In very severe cases, deep brain stimulation may help to relieve chronic depression or obsessive compulsive disorder. The application of brain stimulation in psychiatry is constantly evolving. The new methods hold potential for the field of psychiatry, including new treatment modalities to offer for patients and novel skills to acquire for psychiatrists.</p>