Why use Chinese medicine for emotional disharmony?
Good results are often seen within a few treatments
Cheaper than long-term use of anti-depressants
Dependence on drugs reduces
No harmful side-effects
Hormones are regulated
Cognitive ability increases
Moods improve and stabilise
Stress levels reduce
Sleep quality improves
Appetite and digestion improve
Energy, strength and vitality increase
Immunity is enhanced
Pain and illnesses less severe
Evidence for acupuncture and mental health
A systematic review and meta-analysis of acupuncture for various depressive conditions has concluded that it is safe and constitutes an effective treatment for various forms of depression. Results showed that the efficacy of acupuncture as a single therapy was comparable to antidepressants in improving clinical response and alleviating symptom severity of major depressive disorders.
Research has concluded that the incidence of adverse events in acupuncture intervention is significantly lower than with antidepressants. Acupuncture is also found to be superior to antidepressants and waiting-list controls in improving both response and symptom severity of some forms of depression.
Research has also concluded that adding acupuncture to conventional medical treatment for depression can reduce the amount of drugs needed to treat the condition and therefore reduce the side-effects of medication.
The UK’s Mental Health Foundation has recently proposed that acupuncture be made more available to depressed patients after an investigation into its benefits for mental health problems (including eating disorders, depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder).
The U.S. Military has invested millions of dollars investigating the efficacy of acupuncture for pain relief and treating soldiers for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Concluding that it is indeed effective, the military has developed a protocol to use during combat called “Battlefield Acupuncture.”
As well as confirming the efficacy and value of acupuncture in the treatment of depression, researchers at the University of Arizona also commented that: “Although drugs and psychotherapy provide significant relief for 50 to 70 percent of patients, about a third of people seeking treatment end that treatment prematurely, citing factors such as dissatisfaction with their current treatment or intolerable side effects. These statistics suggest that alternative treatments may be welcomed by those suffering from depression.”
Meanwhile at Yale University School of Medicine research into the use of ear acupuncture and anxiety has shown that those treated experienced significant lowering of their anxiety levels. The anxiety levels of each patient were measured just prior to needling, and at intervals of 30 minutes, 24 hours and 48 hours after treatment.
A Canadian pilot study has tested the feasibility and potential efficacy of acupuncture for the treatment of repetitive self-injurious behaviour (SIB) in depressed adolescents and found that the mean number of SIB urges had decreased from levels measured at pre-treatment screening, and this remained lowered at four weeks post-treatment. Average “Internalising Anger” scores were significantly reduced at four weeks post treatment follow-up.
Another study by Canadian scientists has investigated the effect of acupuncture and fluoxetine (Prozac) treatment in depressed patients and concluded that acupuncture proved to be more effective. Only acupuncture was found to reduce TNF-alpha concentration of cytokines and IFN-gamma/IL-4 ratio towards the control level.
Hong Kong researchers have carried out a pilot study suggesting that acupuncture is beneficial in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and produced significantly greater improvements in OCD severity scores compared with a control group, pharmacological treatment and cognitive-behavioural therapy.
A Korean systematic review of studies examining the use of acupuncture in treating the symptoms of schizophrenia has also provided evidence for its effectiveness in improving auditory hallucinations compared with antipsychotic drugs.
Other evidence in terms of endocrinology shows that acupuncture prevents biochemical stress-induced elevations in areas of the brain responsible for the immune system, neuroendocrine function, stress modulation, sexuality, energy storage and digestion.
References
Anesthesia and Analgesia. Feb 2001;92(2):548-553.
An open trial of auricular acupuncture for the treatment of repetitive self-injury in depressed adolescents. Child Psychiatry Review. 2003 Feb;12(1):10-2.
Combination of acupuncture and fluoxetine for depression: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Aug;15(8):837-44).
Electroacupuncture for refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder: a pilot waitlist-controlled trial. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2009 Aug;197(8):619-22).
Imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and between Th1 and Th2 cytokines in depressed patients: the effect of electroacupuncture or fluoxetine treatment. Pharmacopsychiatry. 2009 Sep;42(5):182-8).
Is acupuncture beneficial in depression: A meta-analysis of 8 randomized controlled trials? (J Affect Disord. 2008 Jun 10
Journal of Endocrinology 2012
Psychological Science. 1998;9:397-40
The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture therapy in depressive disorders: Systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord. 2009 Jul 24
