Acupuncture and Depression: Can it Help?

If you suffer from clinical depression, then you require some sort of assistance to properly balance your brain chemistry and moods. However, medications may not work for you. You may be allergic, or you might just not be able to find a medication and dosage that can solve your problem. Therapy might not be an option you feel comfortable with, either. If this is the case, you could try treating your depression with acupuncture.

How Depression Works

Clinical depression is more than just feeling down once in a while. Clinical depression is generally related to an imbalance of certain chemicals in the brain, although it can also be caused or worsened by certain thinking patterns. This is why medications, counselling, or both can treat it. Medications help make up for the hormones and chemicals that the body does not produce enough of. Counselling can help correct negative thought patterns that have become habit or were reinforced by circumstances.

You can tell clinical depression from regular depression mainly by the way that mood seems to be negative regardless of external circumstances. This means not enjoying even things that ‘should’ be fun or that you used to be passionate about. It often also includes seeing the future in a negative light, even when there are many reasons to be hopeful. Sleep cycles can also be disrupted, and motivation may be low, even for things you want to do. The “down” mood might be a kind of inability to feel intensely about anything, or it can be a deep sadness that has no clear source.

Obviously, with such serious effects, clinical depression needs to be dealt with in a constructive manner. It is something that anyone will need help handling, preferably trained help. But not every solution works for every individual.

How Acupuncture Helps Ease Depression

Many studies indicate that acupuncture may have a substantial positive effect on depression, especially when used alongside medications. Scientists and doctors are not yet sure precisely how acupuncture is able to amplify the effect of antidepressants, but it does seem to have that effect.

While there have not been many studies that could completely rule out a placebo effect, because of the nature of depression, a placebo effect cure is essentially as good as any other; particularly if it removes the depressed mood and other problems. There are studies that show that it may be especially effective on those with minor depression who also have anxiety disorders, a common combination of conditions. This also supports the idea that acupuncture can help patients think differently about themselves and their lives, since Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is used to treat anxiety conditions on many occasions.

Acupuncture can also serve as a treatment for those who cannot take normal psychiatric medicines, even temporarily, such as pregnant women. This can be a tremendous aid to anyone who is not able to control their depression by the traditional medical means.

You should always consult your regular physician, even when engaging upon a non-traditional medical solution. However, plenty of results have shown that acupuncture can really help some individuals with depression. It also has an almost negligible risk of serious side effects, which is a great improvement over many combinations of psychiatric medications. If you have been looking for alternative methods to treat your depression, acupuncture may indeed be the right choice for you.

If you live in York & you’d like help in easing depression, contact Tiziana today to schedule an acupuncture appointment.