Summer remembers starting to feel depressed around the time she was 8 years old. By age 9, she was clinically diagnosed with depression. Her depression ultimately reached a point where it was nothing short of disabling.
She refers to it as her “big, unmoving force” that unfortunately was resistant to professional counseling, psychiatric therapy and countless antidepressant medications.
Summer describes her childhood as traumatic, compounded by a history of mental illness in her family. By the time she finished seventh grade, going to school became too overwhelming, which only intensified her depression.
Aside from one year of high school when she tried going back to school, Summer kept up with her studies as much as possible through online home schooling. Merely walking out the door of her home, she said, felt “so heavy and impossible.”
Most of her time was spent playing video games, watching TV and listening to music — her one true passion. Friends were nonexistent, Summer said, “because I didn’t think I was a person worth knowing.
“I just felt constantly hopeless and miserable. I didn’t understand what other people saw in being alive.”
Thankfully, as she approaches her 18th birthday, Summer has begun to finally taste the delights of joy, laughter and happiness. None of this would be possible without the UW Health Kids neurology team and a form of treatment that finally cracked the code of Summer’s unrelenting depression.
While not a permanent cure for depression, transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, has improved Summer’s mood considerably.
In addition to clinical depression, Summer’s care team diagnosed her with additional mental health conditions and chronic pain disorders. TMS has helped with her headaches and softened the chronic pain from her hypermobility syndrome.
No longer consumed by a constant sense of self-loathing, Summer has begun to discover her hidden goodness. She has also started making friends online across the country and overseas, experiencing the joy of caring for others and being cared for.
“I can honestly say now that I love the person I am,” she said. “I have online friends, whom I talk to on video calls, in Michigan, California and Saudi Arabia. I’m hoping I may meet some of them in person at some point.”
A decade of emotional darkness
Looking back, Summer and her mother, Bonnie, have worked incredibly hard to find a bit of light.
“For nearly a decade, Summer saw professional therapists and was prescribed nearly every antidepressant on the shelf,” Bonnie said.
Invariably, however, Summer remained stuck. When she was 15, ketamine infusions provided temporary relief but ultimately didn’t offer long-term results.
Finally, in early 2025, when she was 17, Summer was referred to Dr. Chris Ikonomidou, a UW Health Kids neurologist who offers TMS — a noninvasive treatment for people who are severely depressed and have not responded to at least two medications.
During treatment, the doctor places a magnetic coil on top of the patient’s head, which delivers short bursts of magnetic pulses that stimulate nerve cells in a part of the brain that controls mood. Patients typically experience a tapping sensation, yet the treatments are essentially painless. Each session lasts no more than 30 minutes, and there is no surgery, anesthesia or medication needed. A full treatment course typically includes 25 to 30 daily sessions over five to six weeks.
“Summer’s depression was severe enough to make her a good candidate for TMS,” Dr. Ikonomidou said. “While TMS does not replace long-term psychiatric care, it is often effective for treating acute depressive episodes. It offers patients an opportunity to recharge and find a purpose in life, and that is what Summer experienced.”
TMS was initially approved in the U.S. for treating adults with depression in 2008. In 2024, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved TMS for treating adolescents between 15 and 17.
Finally, Summer discovers her true self
“When I was so depressed, I felt constant hopelessness,” Summer said. “Now, I love pursuing new ideas and have been getting out of the house to explore my love of music by taking vocal lessons and music production lessons.
“I finally feel in tune with myself and have an outgoingness that I never knew was there.”
Bonnie is very proud of her daughter and thrilled to see Summer finally experience some happiness.
“There are no words to describe it,” she said. “It’s really tremendous to see Summer have the confidence to put herself out there as she is. She has come so far, and we have Dr. Ikonomidou and her team to thank. They are really amazing.”
Summer is especially encouraged because, for the first time, she can see depression as a barrier that kept her from realizing her true self.
“Now, I can see depression and hating myself as the illusion that it is,” she said. “Human brains are not wired for hopelessness all the time and now I can see how feeling that way is not my real truth.
“Things are not perfect now, but even if I have a day when my symptoms return, I know that I can rise above it again because I’ve done it before.”