A woman with lifelong depression has shared her experience with an experimental brain implant that delivers electrical stimulation, similar to a pacemaker, which she credits with saving her life. Emily Hollenbeck is among a small group of patients who have undergone Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) implantation, stating that without it, she might not be alive today.
Emily's family history of mental illness and depression, including the loss of both parents to suicide by the time she was 30, influenced her own struggles with depression. She began experiencing symptoms at 19 and had her first major episode at 21.
