By June of 2014, I had been depressed so long that I’d practically forgotten what it feels like to feel “normal”. I have had frequent suicidal ideations since I was a teenager. Rumination on my problems and pessimistic or fatalistic thoughts have been my constant companion. For 20 years, I’ve been struggling to find solutions – coping strategies, medicines, exercise, socialization – I’ve tried it all. And they all helped somewhat, but I could never seem to find anything that made me feel “normal”.If you’ve been feeling bad for so long that you’ve forgotten how good it feels to be alive, I can empathize with you. I had reached the point where even the “good” times didn’t feel good, because I had a persistent, meta-cognitive, inner-critical process that had become abusive to my well-being.Then I heard a report on Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on RadioLab. The report described how tDCS helps many users to quiet the critical inner voice and just do what needs to be done. I’m a hacker at heart, so there was something deeply encouraging about the idea that I had, not an unconquerable genetic/chemical anomaly, but a short circuit – neurons that had become overtaxed, and needed realignment through current flow.I wasn’t intimidated by the prospect of altering my brain, because the currents involved were so small – ~2/1000ths of an Amp, a current that can be provided by a 9-volt battery – but I had a healthy skepticism. So I did my research, and I was surprised and heartened to find hundreds of scientific studies demonstrating the effectiveness of tDCS at managing or eliminating depression. Thousands of people have already found long-term respite from depression through just a tiny nudge of electrical potential. I was convinced that this was something I had to try.I researched the available tDCS devices on the market, and concluded that I needed one key feature – the ability to reliably control my current flow. With that in mind, The Brain Stimulator was the simplest, most-inexpensive, and most intuitive device on the market. The Brain Stimulator is a simple, intuitive device, with a physical knob that adjusts current smoothly to your specification. As you turn the knob, there is a satisfying “click”, accompanied instantaneously by the sensation of an increasing current flow, as you increase your dosage from 0.5 mA to 1.0 mA to 1.5 mA to 2.0 mA (max). The Brain Stimulator works, and you can feel it working.During the nearly 8 weeks I’ve been self-administering tDCS with The Brain Stimulator (all on my original 9-volt battery!), I’ve felt profound changes in my mood. My self-destructive inner voice, once loud and persistent, has become as quiet as a kitten, and easily dismissed. I feel more open to life, and more resilient. My ability to act confidently to improve my life has dramatically improved. I second-guess myself less, and adapt more quickly. I exercise more, and set up fewer artificial barriers to my goals. I make decisions more easily, with less fear, uncertainty, and doubt. I talk to people without distracting feelings of shame and unworthiness. My relationship with my girlfriend has improved, as has my performance at work. And I finally found the courage and self-confidence to find a better job with better pay!Equally important, I’ve learned to relax and be still without inwardly criticizing and berating myself. Sometimes you just need to turn off the inner critic, and let yourself be human, in order to be happy. The Brain Stimulator’s tDCS treatments helped me to do that.My life has been altered dramatically for the better in just 8 weeks of self-administered tDCS treatments with The Brain Stimulator. If you’d like to read more about how I used The Brain Stimulator and tDCS, I wrote about it here. If you’ve been depressed for years, and medicine hasn’t helped, I highly recommend The Brain Stimulator