1. A device for treating a disorder in a patient comprising: a housing having an electrically permeable or conducting contact surface for contacting an outer skin surface of the patient; and an energy source within the housing configured to transmit an electric current through the outer skin surface of the patient to a vagus nerve within the patient, an electrode directly coupled to the energy source and not directly coupled to the electrically permeable contact surface; a conducting medium within the housing filling a space created between the electrode and the electrically permeable contact surface, wherein the electric current is sufficient to generate an electric field between about 10 to 600 V/m at the vagus nerve above a threshold for generating action potentials within fibers of the vagus nerve responsible for activating neural pathways causing suppression of excitatory neurotransmitters within a brain of the patient.