Anxiety, Stress, Sleep
Acupuncture is a fantastic tool to reduce the negative effects of stress as it works to balance the nervous system, helping to down-regulate the fight-or-flight response associated with stress.
HOW CAN ACUPUNCTURE HELP?
Acupuncture can reduce feelings and symptoms of depression, stress and anxiety, regulate your emotions and improve sleep quality and quantity.
Acupuncture is a drug-free therapy. With acupuncture, every patient is considered unique and treatments are tailored to specific needs. Side effects are minimal.
It is easy, relaxing, accessible and can seamlessly be integrated with medical treatments such as counselling or medical prescriptions.
Modern life is not always conducive to good sleep or relaxation. Stress is absolutely essential to survival as it keeps us safe, ensures we eat and drink well, and supplies our bodies with information and the physical tools to allow us to navigate the world.
HOWEVER! Chronic/acute stress or a traumatic experience can overstimulate the nervous system to affect sleep, digestion, immunity, mood, emotions, pain response, and many other essential systems.
TREATMENT
Treatments frequency varies depending on your situation, however weekly treatments for 6-8 weeks is one course of treatment and can address many issues. Ongoing biweekly or monthly treatments are often required for ongoing care and prevention. Everyone responds slightly differently to acupuncture therapy and it can take some time to understand how it works best for you.
RESEARCH SHOWS THAT ACUPUNCTURE HELPS
Depression, Insomnia, rumination, anxiety, stress, irritability/anger, addiction, PTSD
Acupuncture and electroacupuncture for anxiety disorders “Overall, there is good scientific evidence encouraging acupuncture therapy to treat anxiety disorders as it yields effective outcomes, with fewer side effects than conventional treatment.”
Electroacupuncture and stress/depression “Electroacupuncture improves depressive behavior faster and with fewer adverse effects than antidepressant medication” (Duan, DM. 2016) “Acupuncture and Electroacupuncture (EA) can support and outperform medication for depression and anxiety without side effects”
Acupuncture and PTSD “Symptom reductions at end treatment were maintained at 3-month follow-up for both interventions. Acupuncture may be an efficacious and acceptable non-exposure treatment option for PTSD.”
Acupuncture and Chronic pain/Stress “Responders...were found to be less depressed, less passive and overly conventional, have shorter duration of pain, endorse less frequent exposure to stressors, and have less serious non pain-related illnesses. The findings are viewed as linking the intractability of pain states with psychosocial factors which may directly interfere with response to somatic modes of therapy or which may interfere via alterations of tonic neurohumoral factors.”
Electroacupuncture and Stress “The results of this study indicate that electroacupuncture at a specific point blocks the stress-induced elevations in the nervous system, which may be the reason why it has stress reducing effects. “
Psychology Today Review of Acupuncture Research and Evidence “Research findings support acupuncture as a treatment of anxiety.”
Acupuncture for Treatment of Insomnia: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials