Are you open to a different depression treatment?
- Non-invasive, medication-free
- Used by doctors in the NHS
- 77% report improvement in 3 weeks
- Buy or rent from £18/week
Are you open to a different depression treatment?
- Non-invasive, medication-free
- Used by doctors in the NHS
- 77% report improvement in 3 weeks
- Buy or rent from £18/week
"The headset helps my depression so I can be a dad again"
"Will I keep stimulating? Hell yes."
“Headset for treating depression recommended as widespread treatment after NHS trial”
"The technology is a milestone in mental health care"
Does it actually work?
CLINICAL TRIAL RESULTS
In 2023 leading researchers from the University of East London and Kings College ran a Randomised Controlled Trial (or RCT), comparing Flow to a placebo. Participants underwent 10 weeks of tDCS depression treatment using the Flow headset. Results showed that 57% went into remission (not clinically depressed). There were no serious side effects connected to using the device.
NHS doctors and academic support Flow
Flow's exciting and encouraging data raise the prospect of a real advance in the treatment of depression... a helpful intervention for many people suffering from major depression.
Allan Young
Chair of Mood Disorders, King's College
Flow has been an amazing tool to safely and effectively help patients with depression to recover faster. The feedback from our patients and staff has been overwhelmingly positive.
Dr Mark McConnochie
NHS Consultant Psychiatrist
Flow has gained popularity among our patients. This positive reception speaks volumes about the effectiveness and patient satisfaction associated with Flow.
Dr Azhar Zaraf
NHS GP
Flow's results show a clear separation of active and sham treatment in a large, multisite controlled trial... a very promising development in mental health treatment.
Corey Keller
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Stanford University
The use of neuromodulation techniques such as tDCS and TMS provide an alternative and effective treatment for that group of patients who are very difficult to manage with medication.
Dr Alex O’Neill-Kerr
NHS Psychiatrist
With Flow's brain stimulation headset our highly respected experts now have a new tool to treat depression.
Elena Touroni, PhD
Clinical Director, Chelsea Psychology Clinic
'The results support the use of Flow as a treatment'
USED BY THE NHS
Our aim is for Flow to be available to everyone on the NHS to ensure as many people as possible can access our depression treatment.
Currently you can only access Flow through the NHS if you live in West London, Northamptonshire or Leicestershire, or if you are a UK-based clinician suffering from depression.
How Flow works
When you experience depression, there are lower levels of activity in the front area of your brain. This is the part responsible for regulating mood, sleep and motivation.
Your brain runs on electricity; Flow sends a gentle electrical current into the area that has slowed down. This gets cells firing again and reduces your symptoms of depression.
The technology is called tDCS - or transcranial Direct Current Stimulation.
Until now it was expensive and only available at clinics. With Flow you can access the treatment at home.
Is it safe?
Yes. The Flow device was designed by experts and is based on tDCS techniques that have been used in clinics for over a decade to treat depression. The Flow device has undergone research that confirms it is a safe and effective treatment for depression. tDCS is also listed as a treatment for depression on the NHS website.
Read our reviews
FAQs
Yes!
We know buying a headset can feel like a big decision.
If you’d like to chat to someone at Flow before you buy, feel free to reach out to us.
We’re available on live chat during business hours and available via email outside of this time.
For live chat, just click the 'Help?' button in the bottom right corner of your screen.
Our email address is support@flowneuroscience.com. We aim to respond to all emails within 1 working day.
Yes - Flow is perfectly safe to use with antidepressants, and many people use it alongside medication. In our clinical trial we saw that using antidepressants alongside Flow actually enhances the treatment. 69% of people who used both Flow and antidepressants were no longer clinically depressed at 10 weeks (compared with 51% of those who just used Flow).
If you are thinking about lowering your dose of antidepressants, or coming off them completely, you should talk to your Doctor first.
There aren't any specific contraindications for Flow, which means everyone aged 18+ can use Flow.
However, caution should be taken with certain conditions.
Please talk to your doctor about taking extra precautions if:
- You are pregnant or think you might be
- You have a skull problem or metal parts in or around the brain, like brain surgery clips, metal plates or screws in the skull, cochlear implants or brain pacemakers such as those used for Parkinson’s disease
- You have epilepsy or have had seizures
- You have a device implanted in your body, like a heart pacemaker, cochlear implant, spinal cord stimulator, vagal nerve stimulator, implanted hearing aid or defibrillator
- You have a skin condition affecting your forehead, such as psoriasis or there is redness, a cut or the skin is infected when it’s recommended to wait until that heals
- You currently have thoughts about suicide or harming yourself
People with ADHD and autism experience the same results with Flow, according to our real world data.
If you are thinking about changing something in your current treatment plan, or you are unsure about your depression diagnosis, please talk to your doctor.
Flow has been tested on depression. We don't have any specific clinical research on how it impacts anxiety on its own.
However, every week people who use Flow answer a questionnaire and we've found that around 66% have less feelings of unease after using Flow for 3 weeks.
We recommend talking to your Doctor if you're considering using Flow for a stand-alone diagnosis of anxiety.
The initial Flow treatment is 10 weeks. If Flow is helpful during these 10 weeks, we recommend you to continue for at least another 6 to 12 months, even if you have become symptom-free.
Our team of clinicians have developed detailed guidance on how to use Flow which you can read below.
Using the headset feels different for everyone. A number of factors will affect how you experience Flow, for example, sleep quality and skin sensitivity and therefore sensations may vary among sessions. It usually feels a little more intense during the first 3 minutes of a stimulation session.
Some people have reported not feeling anything while others have reported feeling an itchy, slightly tingling sensation; like a stinging or a mild burning sensation on the forehead.
We'd advise you to talk to a medical professional before changing anything about your depression treatment, but especially under the following circumstances:
- You are pregnant or think you might be
- You have a skull problem or metal parts in or around the brain, like brain surgery clips, metal plates or screws in the skull, cochlear implants or brain pacemakers such as those used for Parkinson’s disease
- You have epilepsy or have had seizures
- You have a device implanted in your body, like a heart pacemaker, cochlear implant, spinal cord stimulator, vagal nerve stimulator, implanted hearing aid or defibrillator
- You have a skin condition affecting your forehead, such as psoriasis or there is redness, a cut or the skin is infected when it’s recommended to wait until that heals
- You currently have thoughts about suicide or harming yourself
- You are thinking of changing something about your current treatment
- You are unsure about your diagnosis
Please visit our Help Centre to find answers to other commonly asked questions.
References
1Self-reported data through a widely used depression questionnaire called the MADRS-s. A clinical improvement is a reduction of 3 points in their depression score. Sample size = 1,296.