Treating Anxiety and Depression with Chinese Medicine
Anxiety and depression are mood disorders that are extremely common in our present society. The symptoms of anxiety can range from mild discomfort to debilitating fear. Doctors will prescribe an array of medications to treat anxiety and depression but many of these meds have undesirable side effects.
Traditional Chinese Medicine can be quite effective in treating anxiety and depression. Anxiety is related to our emotional mindset. When we have our energy balanced it also balances our emotional body.
There are twelve energy pathways in TCM. These Twelve pathways are composed of six yin (deeper, feminine) organs and six yang (superficial, masculine) organs.
The yin organs are associated with emotions. They are:
- Lung meridian- grief, sadness
- Spleen meridian- worry
- Heart meridian-heart felt feelings
- Kidney meridian- fear
- Liver meridian- anger
- Pericardium Meridian- heartfelt feelings
When you have an acupressure or acupuncture session, the practitioner takes your pulses to see where your imbalance lies. They then treat the imbalance to bring the body back to homeostasis.
To help with anxiety and depression a series of 8-10 sessions is recommended initially to achieve the best result, after that the practitioner and client will decide on the need for a maintenance schedule. Chinese herbs may also be helpful.
