Now a popular treatment for many types of pain being completely safe and highly effective, acupuncture has also proven to be an excellent treatment for depression. Acupuncture Philadelphia does more than antidepressants; it also repairs the underlying problems that engender depression.

What makes acupuncture a safe treatment is that it is a natural therapy for many types of disorders, which does not use drug medications and does not have any side effects.   Acupuncture for pain treatment or pain management has gained worldwide popularity due to its potency.  It also is now popularly known as well for its effectiveness in correcting mood disorders.

Both Western medical science and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) believe that stress is the chief cause of depression.  According to TCM perspective, vital energy also known as chi, travels around the body through networks of passageways called meridians.  If chi delivery is blocked in the meridians due to stress, the resultant effect will be the rise of depression.  The job of the acupuncturist is to take away the blockage by removing stress out of the mind and enable chi to travel unimpeded once again.  Hence, instead of feeling low and depressed, acupuncture treatment makes the person feel relaxed, tranquil, reenergized and happy.  Typically, acupuncture treatments for depression will have a noticeable effect on the patients after 2 to 5 sessions.  Acupuncture addresses emotional extremes such depression and anxiety.  It also removes the symptoms (fatigue, sleeplessness, etc.) of these conditions.

Acupuncture treats depression by stimulating the brain to release natural painkillers such as endorphins and enkephalins to neutralize the stress in the mind and control neurotransmitters that send out pain signals from the brain.  Besides controlling pain and stress, acupuncture also improves blood circulation to the undernourished part of the body reinvigorating those parts and raising the overall energy level of the body.

If one started out with antidepressants for their depression, acupuncture can help that person cut down slowly on his/her medications until intake and dependence of them ceases completely.  Also, if the patient does not wish to end his medication intake, acupuncture can help complement it by helping the body detoxify the harmful ingredients of those drugs.

Acupuncture Philadelphia is able to determine the energetic swings in the body.  The physical and emotional manifestations of the symptoms gives the acupuncturist a clear picture of what the patient is suffering from and can devise a treatment plan for that patient based on the symptoms.  Chi flows around the body on energy networks known as meridians.  These meridians connect to specific points in the body known as acupuncture points on one end and connect to major body organs on the other end.  TCM states that when the circuitous flow of chi along the meridians stagnates, illness will arise. Acupuncture is the application of needles at specific acupuncture points to cause a certain change in the biochemical and physiological processes in the body in order to achieve a desired outcome.

The Principle of the Five Elements, known in Chinese as Wu Xing, relates to the flow of chi and yin-yang balance and harmony. The Five Elements represent wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. They are used to denote the relationship between the physiology and imbalances of the body and nature.  TCM believes that an emotional state can relate to an element.  Listed below are the five elements and emotions

Wood relates to the Liver – Energy deficiency of the liver leads to anger, jealousy, frustration, resentment, bitterness and stress.

Fire is associated with the Heart – Extreme fire leads to mania and over-excitation.

Earth associates with Spleen – Energy imbalance in this organ can result in anxiety, pensiveness and worry.

Metal relates to the Lung – Deficient energy in the Lung will manifest in grief and sadness.

Water relates to Kidney – Kidney energy lack leads to depression and lack of will.

Acupuncture points treated will depend on the emotional disorder.  Initial minimal discomfort may be experienced during the treatment but as treatment progresses a relaxed and comfortable sensation then envelops the patient during the whole course of the treatment.  Depending on the disorder treatment may last from 5 to 30 minutes and the number of sessions will depend on the severity of the problem.

Depression is manifested through tiredness; malaise; lethargy; shallow breathing; lack of spirit or motivation; melancholia; crying spells; uncontrollable sobbing; sadness; withdrawal from social interaction; anxiety; insomnia or too much sleeping and meaninglessness.  Sometimes the depressed person tends to overeat, rapidly gaining weight and sometimes does not have the urge to eat at all.

Western society tries to cope with depression by psychotherapy and/or with pharmaceutical drugs.  The current epidemic of depression had seen the rise of sales in drugs such as Effexor, Wellbutrin, Zoloft and Paxil among others.  These drugs work by activating chemicals such as serotonin and norepinephrine to alleviate the symptoms. All of these drugs carry numerous and harmful side effects to the body.  They ought to be taken regularly in order to be effective.  A sudden stoppage of these medications usually makes the symptoms worse than ever.  Thus, we can see that pharmaceutical companies are not interested in curing depression but merely strive to relieve the symptoms in order for their drugs to be bought on a regular basis.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a holistic form of medicine.  This means that TCM does not only work to treat the physiological and emotional symptoms of the patient, it also aims to cure the root cause of the symptoms, which is depression itself.  Although the Chinese do not consider depression a sickness, it still charts a course of treatment that would help the patient come out of an extreme emotional state and into a normal and balanced state of mind.

Many depressed people sport liver energetic imbalances. In TCM, the liver governs the emotions of anger and frustration.  Prolonged feelings of these types of heightened emotions create energetic blockage or stagnation in the liver; this manifests as depression and is called liver chi stagnation.

Once liver chi is blocked, the other organs experiences chi deficiency, thereby causing more ailments to manifest.  Acupuncture  Philadelphia and herbal therapy first, strive to remove this liver chi imbalance, second, take away the very negative emotions of the depressed individual and third, strengthen the body by restoring normal body functions.  Acupuncture is truly a very effective and safe way to treat depression.

According to traditional Chinese medical theory, acupuncture points are located on meridians through which gi vital energy runs. There is no histological, anatomical or scientific proof that these meridians or acupuncture points exist. Acupuncture remains controversial among Western medical doctors and scientists. Creating case studies that use proper scientific controls is difficult because of the invasive nature of acupuncture – a clinical study involves a placebo (sham product) compared to the targeted treatment. It is very hard to devise a sham acupuncture control that one can compare to proper acupuncture. While some studies have concluded that acupuncture offers similar benefits to a patient as a placebo, others have indicated that there are some real benefits.  There are a lot of studies that explains that the principles of acupuncture are firmly grounded in science, and you don’t need Chinese philosophy either to make it work, or to practice it.

How did acupuncture become popular in the USA?

James Reston, who worked for the New York Times had his appendix removed (appendectomy) during a visit to China in 1971. After surgery he experienced some discomfort and was treated for this with acupuncture. He was so surprised to find that the acupuncture helped his discomfort. He then wrote an article that year titled “Now, About My Operation in Peking”.

Many believe this article triggered intense interest in acupuncture in the USA. Reston wrote that the acupuncturist “inserted three long, thin needles into the outer part of my right elbow and below my knees and manipulated them…That sent ripples of pain racing through my limbs and, at least, had the effect of diverting my attention from the distress in my stomach. Meanwhile, Doctor Li lit two pieces of an herb called ai, which looked like the burning stumps of a broken cheap cigar, and held them close to my abdomen while occasionally twirling the needles into action. All of this took about 20 minutes, during which I remembered thinking that it was rather a complicated way to get rid of gas… but there was a noticeable relaxation of the pressure and distension within an hour and no recurrence of the problem thereafter.”