Successful Natural Treatments for Depression and Anxiety
Has panic, fear and uneasiness become a part of your daily routine? How about insomnia? Any feelings of guilt, worthlessness and helplessness?
Anxiety and depression have slowly risen to become two of the most common mood disorders, affecting millions across the globe. Over two million Canadian adults suffer from depression. As the number of individuals taking anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications increases each day, so does the number of cases concerning side effects and relapse rates. Some even claim they don’t feel like themselves anymore. Although these drugs provide a momentary fix, it does not address the underlying root cause. People want to better understand their options for alternatives to medicative relief, but what other solution is there?
What if you could cure anxiety naturally? No medications. No side effects.
Acupuncture is an excellent option.
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), “evidence for the use of acupuncture to treat anxiety disorders is becoming stronger”. Several clinical trials have reported a therapeutic effect with acupuncture compared to medication, along with fewer side effects.
Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture
Traditional Chinese Medicine approaches anxiety from a different perspective, one which hopes to treat it as a disorder of Shan You Si. This approach is believed to affect the Zang organs where each organ is responsible for one’s emotions. It follows as so: Heart Zang stores the spirit, Liver Zang for anger, Spleen Zang for excessive worry, Kidney for fear and Lungs for grief and anxiety. It is believed that disturbing one or more of the Zang Organs causes an imbalanced emotional state, such as anxiety or depression, based on how much has been affected and how.
By using acupuncture, our hope is to restore these imbalances. Focusing on these fine points, inserting needles triggers the body’s own healing process and thereby naturally healing your symptoms. The acupuncturist targets specific “meridians”, known as highways of energy or “qi”. These highways run throughout the body towards specific organs, but can often become congested with energy back up. Acupuncture clears these bodily blocks, thereby also clearing the corresponding emotional blocks with their associated organs. As with medications, every individual is different and so is their disorder. Our hope is to create a personalized treatment plan specific to you. With proper evaluation, changes in lifestyle and effective self-help remedies, you will experience a new relief.
What makes Chinese Medicine different is that it recognizes the powerful interplay between body and emotion. Its’ inseparable connection explains why becoming internally upset, can lead to physical symptoms of anxiety as well. Some professionals have even claimed that they have seen anxiety-induced rashes almost disappear in two treatments alone. As psychiatric disorder become increasingly difficult to treat, why not treat it naturally with the help of your own body?
Recent Studies
- A study recruited 755 individuals with moderate to severe depression, of which 70% were on anti-depressants. Throughout the study, these individuals were provided acupuncture and counselling (or both). Results showed incredible findings of a strong positive effect on depression. Individuals found themselves having lowered on the depression scale, from 16/27 to 9/27 for acupuncture and 11/27 for counselling. The benefits of this study were not temporary, but instead offered relief for 3 months after treatment.
- A study focusing on rat models who had endured stressful conditions and then subsequently received acupuncture, had lowered blood hormone levels secreted by the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. This system controls the individuals’ reaction to stress, as well as emotion and mood.
- A study looked at the effects of acupuncture on nicotine withdrawal-induced anxiety during smoking cessation. Test groups of rats were injected with repeated doses of nicotine, in order to induce nicotine addiction. Researchers found statistically significant findings, showing a difference between the control and acupuncture group when mice were tested on an anxiety provoking elevated maze test.
Links for More Information
https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics#
https://meholisticcare.co.nz/2017/04/05/why-and-how-does-acupuncture-help-to-reduce-stress/
http://www.calvindale.com/treatments/anxiety-depress.html
Research Papers
Acupuncture for Anxiety
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3689180/
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2014/850367/
Tom Kiroplis, our registered Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner, has been treating depression, anxiety and many other disorders successfully since 1997 using a combination of acupuncture and chinese herbal remedies. If you have any questions, please email info@queenwestphysio.ca or call 905-450-7870.