Acupuncture and Mental Health
Creating Mental and Emotional
Wellness with Acupuncture
Occasionally we must all deal with major upheavals or
emotional distress at some points in our lives. These events
can trigger a host of unexpected feelings and behaviors from
depression and panic attacks to major disruptions in sleep
and eating. Not only can acupuncture and Chinese medicine
alleviate symptoms associated with mental health issues, it
can treat the root cause of the problem by helping to
rebalance the body’s internal environment.
What are Mental Health Disorders?
Mental health disorders are medical conditions that disrupt
a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to
others, and daily functioning which result in a diminished
capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.
Serious mental illnesses include major depression,
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive
disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), and borderline personality disorder. Mental
disorders can affect persons of any age, race, religion, or
income. Experts estimate that almost a third of people in
most countries report sufficient criteria at some point in
their life. The good news about mental disorders is that
recovery is often possible.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Mental Disorders
According to Chinese medical theory, a mental disorder
occurs when there is imbalance within the body. Imbalance
can come from an excess or deficiency of yin and yang that
disrupts the flow of qi or energy through the body.
Chinese Medicine does not recognize any mental disorder as
one particular syndrome. Instead, it aims to treat the
specific symptoms that are unique to each individual using a
variety of techniques such as acupuncture, herbal medicine,
bodywork, lifestyle and dietary recommendations and
energetic exercises to restore imbalances found in the body.
Therefore, if 100 patients are treated with Chinese medicine
for anxiety, each of these 100 patients will receive a
unique, customized treatment with different acupuncture
points, different herbs and different lifestyle and dietary
recommendations.
If you or a loved one are experiencing a mental/emotional
problem, please call us to see how acupuncture and Chinese
medicine can help.
The Five Elements and Emotions
The Principle of the Five Elements
(known as the Wu Xing) describes the flow of qi and the
balance of yin and yang. The Five Elements refer to wood,
fire, earth, metal, and water in Eastern philosophy. They
are used to interpret the relationship between the
physiology and pathology of the human body and the natural
environment.
In Chinese medicine, each element is associated with certain
mental/emotional states. For instance, our memory, thought
processes, emotional well-being, and consciousness are also
attributed to the heart and fire element. When the fire
element is in balance, the heart is strong and healthy, the
mind is calm and sleep is sound. When the fire element is
imbalanced, we may either lack joy (depression) or have an
excess of joy (mania). Indicators of an imbalance in the
fire element include agitation, nervousness, heartburn, and
insomnia.
The Five Elements and Emotions
Wood (Liver) – Anger, jealousy, frustration, resentment,
bitterness and stress
Fire (Heart) – Mania and over-excitation
Earth (Spleen) – Anxiety, pensiveness and worry
Metal (Lung) – Grief and sadness
Water (Kidney) – Depression and lack of will
Yintang: The Third Eye Point
Acupuncture has been found to be
helpful with all types of emotional and mental disorders,
from stress and anxiety to schizophrenia. Often used for
such treatments is Yintang, a point located between
the eyebrows - sometimes referred to as “the third eye.”
The Chinese translation for the acupuncture point,
Yintang, is “hall of impression”. “Hall” is defined as a
corridor or passageway, or the large entrance room of a
house. An “impression” is defined as a strong effect
produced on the intellect, emotions, or conscience. Thus,
Yintang is the entrance or passageway to the mind.
Location: Midway between the eyebrows
Indications: Calm the mind, enhance one’s ability to
focus, soothe emotions, promote sleep, and relieve
depression.
Study: Acupuncture and Depression
Psychologist John Allen, from
the University of Arizona in Tucson, and Acupuncturist Rosa
Schnyer, conducted the very first pilot controlled study on
treating depression symptoms with acupuncture in the Western
scientific world. In a double blind randomized study, 34
depressed female patients who met the DSM-IV diagnostic
criteria were assigned to one of three treatment groups for
eight weeks.
The first group received acupuncture treatment specifically
tailored to their depression symptoms. The second group
received a general acupuncture treatment not specific to
depression, and the third group was placed on a waiting list
for acupuncture treatment, but received no treatment. The
study found that those in the tailored acupuncture treatment
experienced a significant reduction in symptoms, compared to
those in the non-specific treatment. Moreover, over 50% of
the participants no longer met the DSM-IV diagnostic
criteria for depression after the study.
The study findings suggest that using acupuncture alone
could be as effective as other types of treatments for
relieving depression symptoms typically used in Western
medicine, such as psychotherapy and drugs.
|
.gif)
