LifeStance Expands Specialty Services, Increasing Access to Esketamine (Spravato) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Across the U.S.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- LifeStance Health, one of the nation's largest providers of outpatient mental healthcare, is expanding access to two specialty services for treatment-resistant depression - esketamine1 (Spravato) and transcranial magnetic stimulation2 (TMS) - as separate analyses show meaningful reductions in depression symptoms and suicidal ideation among patients receiving each treatment.
Patients with treatment-resistant depression experience persistent depressive symptoms and increased risk of suicidality despite adequate trials of conventional antidepressant medications and/or evidence-based psychotherapies. On average, these patients spend 571 days in a depressive episode and experience significant impacts to daily functioning and quality of life.
LifeStance analyzed outcomes for patients with treatment-resistant depression receiving either esketamine or TMS. In both analyses, their progress was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), which measures depression symptom severity over time.
For LifeStance patients receiving esketamine:
- 74% of patients experienced a clinically meaningful3 reduction in depression severity after 12 weeks of treatment.
- Before treatment, 13% of patients reported suicidal ideation nearly every day. Following treatment, that figure decreased to 2%, reflecting an 85% reduction.
- The analysis included 258 LifeStance patients.
For LifeStance patients receiving TMS:
- 61% of patients experienced a clinically meaningful reduction in depression severity after completing at least 30 treatment sessions.
- Before treatment, 13% of patients reported suicidal ideation nearly every day. Following treatment, that figure decreased to 6%, reflecting a 50% reduction.
- The analysis included 355 LifeStance patients.
These observational results describe the patients included in the analyses and do not guarantee individual outcomes. However, the data supports that these evidence-based treatment options may benefit appropriate patients - even those who have struggled to find sufficient relief through previous treatment.
The need for specialty treatment options like esketamine and TMS is significant. In the U.S., treatment-resistant depression affects about 30% of people diagnosed with major depressive disorder, or 2.8 million people, according to a study published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. LifeStance estimates approximately 139,000 of its adult patients experienced treatment-resistant depression in the past year, representing a substantial population that may benefit from additional evidence-based options when conventional treatments have not provided sufficient relief. This is equivalent to 28% of all LifeStance patients with depression and roughly 14% of the more than one million total patients the organization serves annually.
LifeStance is significantly expanding access to both treatments. Compared to Q3 2025, LifeStance has more than doubled the number of locations offering specialty services, from 33 to 69, with esketamine expanding from 4 to 18 states and TMS from 11 to 22 states. It plans to continue expanding the in-market and new market specialty services footprint substantially in 2027.
"For patients with treatment-resistant depression, not finding relief from previous treatments does not mean they are out of options," said Dr. Stephanie Eken, Chief Medical Officer, LifeStance Health. "The improvements we're seeing at LifeStance with esketamine and TMS offer new hope for patients who have continued to struggle, including those experiencing the most severe symptoms and suicidal ideation. Too many patients are still waiting for relief when there are effective, evidence-based treatment options that may help. We're committed to expanding access to these specialty services so more patients have the opportunity to receive the most effective treatments tailored to their individual clinical needs."
LifeStance's complete esketamine and TMS outcomes reports are available at LifeStance.com.
As part of its commitment to clinical excellence, LifeStance publishes clinical outcomes data regularly, using measurement-based care to track patient progress throughout treatment. These analyses follow earlier 2026 reports on depression and anxiety treatment outcomes among more than 180,000 patients and outcomes across generations and geographic regions.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
About LifeStance
Founded in 2017, LifeStance (Nasdaq: LFST) is reimagining mental health. We are one of the nation's largest providers of virtual and in-person outpatient mental healthcare for children, adolescents and adults experiencing a variety of mental health conditions. Our mission is to help people lead healthier, more fulfilling lives by improving access to trusted, affordable and personalized mental healthcare. LifeStance and its supported practices employ approximately 8,500 psychiatrists, advanced practice nurses, psychologists and therapists and operate across 35 states and more than 550 centers.
Statements in this press release and on the related teleconference that express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: our plans with respect to specialty services and other statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts. When used in this press release and on the related teleconference, words such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "intend," "potential," "continue," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "plan," "target," "predict," "project," "seek" and similar expressions as they relate to us are intended to identify forward-looking statements. They involve a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events and results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements.
1Esketamine (Spravato) is an FDA-approved nasal spray for adults with treatment-resistant depression, used with or without an antidepressant. It is administered in-person under clinician supervision, typically twice weekly for four weeks, followed by weekly or every-other-week maintenance treatment.
2TMS is an FDA-approved, non-invasive treatment for individuals with treatment-resistant depression. It is a form of brain stimulation that targets areas involved in mood regulation, often used after patients have tried multiple antidepressants and psychotherapy without sufficient relief.
3Clinically meaningful improvement is defined as a PHQ-9 severity score reduction of five or more points.
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SOURCE LifeStance Health
