Sensory Hyperstimulation for Treating Depression

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with dysfunction across large-scale brain networks and remains insufficiently responsive to existing treatments in many patients. While most therapeutic strategies target top-down cortical modulation, bottom-up sensory interventions remain relatively underexplored. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a multisensory hyper-stimulation protocol in reducing depressive symptoms. Fifteen adults with a moderate-to-severe depressive episode (HAMD-17 ≥17) received nine 20-minute sessions of multisensory stimulation combining auditory, thermal, and pressure stimuli (calibrated to approximately 60% of individual pain thresholds). Outcomes were assessed at baseline, mid-intervention (session 5), and post-intervention (session 9) using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Rumination Response Scale (RRS), and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). Within-subject changes were analyzed using Friedman tests with Bonferroni-corrected Wilcoxon post-hoc comparisons.

Inclusion Criteria: * diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) according to DSM-5 * age ≥18 * baseline Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score (HAMD-17) \> 17. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with Schizophrenia disorder and/or Active Psychosis. * Patients with serious physical morbidity (patents with unbalanced hypertension or diabetes). * Patients with ischemic heart disease. * Patients with chronic pain disorder or treatment regulary with pain killers (acamol etc) opioids or medical cannabis. * Active substance abuse (drugs or alcohol) two weeks before the study. * Sensory processing syndrome * Post traumatic stress disorder