Acupuncture for Depression: A Natural Solution for Emotional Well-Being.

An acupuncture consultation allows for a precise evaluation of mood imbalance according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which permits customized, natural treatment without habituation or harmful side effects.

DID YOU KNOW?

Acupuncture, in addition to being free of side effects, is as effective as common SSRI antidepressants for treating major depression. (1) Furthermore, patients who decide to combine SSRI medications with acupuncture treat their depression more effectively than those relying solely on medication. (1) Acupuncture is also considered superior in effectiveness to antidepressants for treating depression in patients who have had a stroke. (2)

Here are some common presentations of depression according to the time-honored approach of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which respond effectively to acupuncture treatments:

Heart Yang Deficiency (心阳虚)

Loss of joy in living, feelings of loneliness, loss of interest, feeling unloved or impossible to love.

Heart Qi Circulation Stagnation (心气郁滞)

Frustration in relationships stemming from difficulty expressing emotions and reciprocal human warmth, accompanied by sadness.

Spleen-Pancreas Qi Deficiency (脾气虚)

Preoccupied with incessant thoughts, worries and mental arguments, too many ideas and insufficient action.

Spleen-Pancreas Qi Stagnation (脾气郁滞)

Secondary isolation, solitary temperament, lamenting, avoided by others due to dominant and persistent possessiveness that interferes and intrudes in interpersonal relationships.

Lung Qi Deficiency (肺气虚)

Voluntarily withdraws during social activities, difficulty and/or fears in forming lasting relationships with others, living in memories of the past.

Lung Qi Stagnation (肺气郁滞)

Moral injury and/or repressed grief, unwilling to let go of past relationships, difficulty managing the pain related to loss.

Kidney Yang Deficiency (肾阳虚)

Collapsed personality, has given up, surrendered, lost control, without firm will, apathetic.

Excess Kidney Will and Relative Kidney Qi Deficiency (肾志过强相对肾气虚)

Continual disappointment due to exaggerated will relative to energy reserves, grandiose ambition, unrealistic, susceptible to burnout.

Gallbladder Qi Deficiency (胆气虚)

Self-doubt, uncertainty, insecurity, irritable and hypersensitive, little awareness and affirmation of one's own identity.

Liver Qi Stagnation (肝气郁滞)

Depression and frustration, sensation of being blocked by circumstances, improved by activity and aggravated by the slightest obstacle, anger, marked irritability.

Liver Qi Stagnation with Liver Fire (肝气郁滞兼肝火)

Depression alternating with aggressive anger, repressed and expressed angers that alternate.

Heart Fire (心火)

Depression with mania, bipolar disorder, euphoria, enthusiasm and sociability alternating with desperate depression and possibly suicidal ideation.

Heart and Kidney Without Communication (心肾不交)

Cries and laughs without reason, fatigue, severe anxiety, phobias, insomnia, hot flushes and possible sensations of cold.

Heart Qi and Blood Deficiency (心气血虚)

Depression, anxiety, emotional lability, weak and nervous, startles easily, fatigues easily, fragile emotionality that is easily disturbed.

Qi and Blood Deficiency (气血虚)

Depression and anxiety that worsens with exertion, weakness, dizziness, typically following childbirth or miscarriage.

Semiology adapted from Jeremy Ross, Acupuncture point combinations, Churchill Livingstone, 1995

Olivier Roy, Acupuncturist, Clinique Shanti, Acupuncture Montreal

href="http://laclinique.net/rendez-vous-dacupuncture/">Book an appointment

(1) Meta-analysis of research confirming the scientific equivalence of acupuncture and SSRIs for treating depression as well as confirmation of the superior effectiveness of acupuncture and SSRIs combined compared to SSRIs alone for treating depression.

Meta analysis and analytic hierarchy process-based intervention strategy research of acupuncture for primary depressive disorder.

Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. 2013 May;33(5):463-7.

(2) Systematic review of meta-analyses demonstrating the superiority of acupuncture effectiveness in treating post-stroke depression compared to antidepressants and the equivalence between the effectiveness of acupuncture and antidepressants in treating major depression.

The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture therapy in depressive disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Zhang ZJ, Chen HY, Yip KC, Ng R, Wong VT.

J Affect Disord. 2010 Jul;124(1-2):9-21. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2009.07.005. Epub 2009 Jul 26. Review.

PMID: 19632725 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]