A brand new digital remedy known as Rejoyn is now accessible for treating despair, based mostly on the ideas of neuroplasticity. Developed partially by Dennis S. Charney, MD, Rejoyn is an emotional face reminiscence job designed to right irregular neural circuits related to despair.
In contrast to conventional remedies comparable to remedy or neuromodulation, Rejoyn is a non-invasive job that sufferers can full on their smartphones. “You do the duty repeatedly a few occasions per week for six weeks, and it has been proven in a big examine to be efficient,” mentioned Charney. The remedy obtained US Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 2024 following intensive analysis and scientific trials.
The inspiration behind Rejoyn got here from resilience analysis carried out by Charney and his colleagues, significantly their work with former prisoners of warfare (POWs) held in solitary confinement in Hanoi throughout the Vietnam Struggle. “A few of them developed huge cognitive capacities, doing arithmetic, some wrote books of their thoughts,” he defined. These observations supported the concept that focused cognitive workout routines may reshape mind circuits—an idea that led to the event of Rejoyn.
Initially, the duty was difficult for customers, however after licensing to Click on Therapeutics, it was redesigned to be extra participating. A partnership with pharmaceutical firm Otsuka Precision Well being then facilitated the required research to acquire FDA approval. “It was an out-of-the-box method to remedy,” Charney mentioned. “We thought it will most likely fail, so it’s type of one other message that be daring, be ready for failure whenever you’re doing all your analysis.”
Charney, who has been the dean of the Icahn Faculty of Medication for 18 years, expressed pleasure on this discovery, in addition to in his broader analysis on resilience. “Essentially the most life-changing work has been on resilience, the place I’ve gotten to fulfill so many nice individuals who we needed to discover as being resilient, starting from POWs to Navy SEALs, individuals who needed to face critical illnesses, traumas… we realized from them to develop what we hopefully got here up with kind of a prescription and the way to change into a resilient individual.”
Rejoyn’s launch represents a big step ahead in psychological well being remedy, providing a novel and accessible method to assist people battling despair.
That is half 6 of a multipart video collection. You may watch half 1 right here, half 2 right here, half 3 right here, half 4 right here, and half 5 right here.
Dr Charney is the dean of the Icahn Faculty of Medication at Mount Sinai. He’s the creator of Neurobiology of Psychological Sickness, The Doctor’s Information to Despair and Bipolar Problems, and Molecular Biology for the Clinician. He’s a professor of psychiatry, neuroscience, and pharmacology and techniques therapeutics at Icahn Faculty of Medication at Mount Sinai.
