What do TMS 'success rate' numbers actually mean?

When you see a clinic (or a website) cite a TMS success rate, it helps to know what's actually being measured. Researchers track two different things: response, meaning at least a 50% reduction in your depression score, and remission, meaning your score drops below the clinical threshold — on the PHQ-9, that's under 5. Response means you're meaningfully better. Remission means you're no longer clinically depressed. For treatment-resistant depression, the real numbers from large clinical trials and real-world data are roughly 50-60% response and 30-35% remission. For OCD, it's 35-45% response and 20-25% remission. For anxious depression, around 50-55% response. These are people who've already tried multiple medications without enough relief — a 1-in-3 shot at remission, for that group, is significant. What predicts landing in the better numbers: fewer failed medications before starting, a shorter current depressive episode, no comorbid personality disorder, and — the single biggest factor — actually completing the full course. People who stop early do meaningfully worse than people who finish all the sessions, even when the early sessions feel hard. Most responders hold their improvement for 6-12 months, and 30-50% eventually need occasional maintenance sessions to keep it going. That's not a failure — it's just how the treatment works for a lot of people. https://tmslist.com/blog/tms-success-rates-2026/ If you finished a full course, where did you land — response, remission, or somewhere in between? Did stopping early or pushing through change the outcome for you? This is general information, not medical advice.