Anxiety
What is anxiety?
Anxiety disorders can be treated effectively with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine therapy. Anxiety can affect any person at any stage of their life, whether someone is an introvert or an extrovert, male or female, active or shy, young or old. Anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress. Anxiety disorders are the most type of common mental illness that affect millions of adults and teens every year. Many people who experience anxiety can't pinpoint what's wrong with them. Often feel like they are on the edge and holding on to what seems to slip away out of their control. Some people describe it as if they might go crazy. It is a feeling of fear and apprehension that is in a state of dark silence but waiting to overtake the mind into chaos. There are several things that may cause most people to feel anxious, for example starting a new job, exams, new relationships, separation or divorce, financial troubles, physical traumas, or even a job interview. Anxiety however is more than just experiencing fear, stress, or worry. While stress, fear, and anxious feelings are common responses to a situation under pressure, it usually passes after the stressful moment has passed. Anxiety is when these anxious feelings don’t go away and happen without any particular reason, circumstance, or situation. Anxiety to you may have your world upside-down but others cannot see or understand how you are feeling inside.
What does anxiety feel like?
Anxiety becomes a problem when you start to feel anxious most of the time to the point where your worry is out of control and interferes with your day-to-day life. For some people, it can show up as feelings of fear and helplessness like everything is caving in, can be accompanied by physical and psychological symptoms. Physical symptoms l Dizziness l Tiredness l Palpitations l l Diarrhea l Muscle aches and tension l Nervousness l Dry mouth l Abdominal pain l Excessive sweating l Shortness of breath lNausea l Headaches l Pins and needles all over the body or limbs l Insomnia Psychological symptoms l Restlessness l Difficulty concentrating l Irritability l Constantly feeling ‘on edge’ l Avoidance of certain places, people, or situations l Isolating oneself.
DEPRESSION
What is depression?
It's normal to feel sad from time to time but depression is more than just a low mood. When feelings become intense, for long periods of time (weeks, months, or even years) without any reason, it is called depression. We still do not know for sure what causes depression but some known factors are genetic factors, childhood history of trauma (physical or psychological), loss of a parent, financial or relationship issues. Medical research highlights that people with depression have a chemical imbalance of neurotransmitters, important chemical messengers in the brain.
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Chinese herbal medicine view depression?
Chinese medicine perspective looks at the whole body as an interconnected web of networks working together, including a person’s emotional state. Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective considers multiple causes leading to depression. When we examine each patient case, we use a microscope lens of the Chinese five elements to connect each type of emotion with its corresponding organ, which leads us to trace to the root of the problem.
We analyze your health and wellbeing through questionnaires and observation to understand your patterns of emotions before choosing the right treatment plan. Clinically, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, we examine the aspects of qi (energy), blood, and body fluids as a diagnostic filter. We look at the insufficiency or accumulation of qi and blood, transformation of body fluids, presence of the essence and spirit to understand the root cause of depression. In addition, we assess the functional interactions between the viscera and bowels responsible for the production and movement of these 'substances'.
Specific acupuncture points on the body are chosen to rebalance the body and mind, in order to improve the symptoms. Chinese herbal medicine is often prescribed to nourish the organs, body fluids, blood, balance both yin and yang; also remove energy (Qi) blockages for free flow circulation.
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