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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.
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.
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