Acupuncture relieves depression, often better than medications, and with no adverse side effects. Today’s blog post describes three of our recent cases and how acupuncture significantly lifted mood, increased motivation levels, improved sleep, and got our patients back on track with living their lives. The acupuncture depression remedy helped them, and it can help you too.
Depression Overview
Depression is insidious. It creeps up silently and overtakes a person’s life. As a result, our thoughts become dark, we feel hopeless about the future, we indulge in constant self-judgment, and we lose all motivation. In the past ten years, cases of depression in America have skyrocketed to epidemic proportions, affecting 8.4 percent of the population.
Western Treatment for Depression
Western medicine typically treats depression with talk therapy and medications. Talk therapy can be highly effective, helping a person process their emotions and make behavior changes to their lifestyle. Medications are less effective, with new research questioning their benefit at all. Yet, many people feel that drugs like Prozac, Lexapro, and Wellbutrin ease their depression, especially when combined with therapy.
Acupuncture Treatment for Depression
Chinese medicine categorizes depression by the pattern imbalance present in the patient. For example, a depressed patient with a wiry pulse and a rough-edged tongue will most likely have Liver Qi Stagnation. Alternatively, someone with a thin pulse and pale tongue may have Spleen/Heart Qi and Blood Deficiency. The acupuncture depression remedy is custom-made, catering to their particular imbalance. Once corrected, the patient will feel less depressed, more motivated, and have fewer negative thoughts.
Depression Case #1
Our patient was a 42-year-old woman in the process of going through a painful divorce. She cried throughout the day, was filled with regrets, and felt hopeless about her future. She had difficulty sleeping, was always tired, had no motivation to socialize, and had lost her appetite. Her tongue was pink with rough edges, and her pulse was thin and wiry.
Her Chinese medicine diagnosis was depression due to Liver Qi Stagnation and Spleen Qi Deficiency (Liver over-acting on Spleen). This pattern is common for depression, where stress builds up in the body and attacks the stomach’s ability to transform food into energy, resulting in fatigue. The Qi Stagnation causes feelings of depression and lethargy. Her treatment included acupoints LV3, SP3, ST36, LV14, CV12, LI4, Si shen cong, GV20, and Ear point Shenmen.
After two treatments, she felt 20% better, with more energy and an improved mood. Following her sixth treatment, she was 90% improved, feeling like her usual self again. She could not believe how quickly the change occurred, given that her situation was the same. Asked how she felt inside, our patient reported feeling like something deep inside became unstuck, freeing her from a prison of the mind. This quick response is typical of our acupuncture depression remedy.
Depression Case #2
Our second patient was a 17-year-old high school Junior who was completely overwhelmed with his workload (he was taking several AP classes) and his friend group (he had gotten into a fight with his friends). He was not sleeping well, only getting four hours of sleep a night. As a result, he was exhausted and stressed. He was still determining how to get all his work done in this most critical year of high school.
Our patient had a poor appetite, frequent dizziness, a constant low-grade headache, urgent, loose stools throughout the day, feelings of hopelessness, and overwhelm. His tongue was pale with scalloped edges, and his pulse was weak. Based on this presentation, his Chinese medicine diagnosis was depression due to Spleen Qi and Heart Blood deficiency. His treatment included acupoints BL15, BL17, BL18, BL20, BL25, GV20, Si shen cong, and Ear points Heart and Insomnia.
He slept eight hours after the first session, with 10% improved energy and motivation. Each additional treatment brought continued relief. Finally, after six treatments, he was all better. He slept seven hours a night, had mended fences with his friends, no longer felt overwhelmed with his schoolwork, and had regular appetite and bowel movements. He and his parents were thrilled with his transformation.
Depression Case #3
Our third patient in this acupuncture depression remedy review was a 62-year-old woman struggling with depression for the past five years. Her depression began when she was diagnosed with macular degeneration, which causes loss of vision. As a result, she could no longer drive, making it difficult to interact with the world and socialize with friends. In addition, she had conflicts with her siblings over her deceased parent’s estate.
Her tongue was red with no coating, and her pulse was full and rapid. Specifically, her depression manifested as feelings of darkness and hopelessness. She was easily agitated and felt irritable most of the time. We determined her Chinese pattern diagnosis to be depression due to Liver Fire. Unfortunately, this pattern was also aggravating her eye condition. The heat from Liver Fire was damaging her Liver Yin, an essential substance for nourishing the eyes.
Our treatment for this patient included acupoints LV2, KD6, LV8, LI11, LI4, BL2, and Yintang. After the first treatment, she began feeling emotional relief. Following her third session, her tongue was no longer red, her mood was 50% improved, and she felt more hopeful. Finally, after eight treatments, she felt her usual self again for the first time in five years.
Acupuncture Depression Remedy
These three cases represent the typical outcomes experienced by our patients struggling with depression. Specifically, acupuncture lifts mood, reduces irritability, eases dark thoughts, diminishes self-judgment, and improves motivation. In addition, treatments are safe, with no adverse effects, and the benefits are long-lasting.
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Additional Resources
Video about our acupuncture depression remedy.
First depression research study.
Second depression research study.
Depression insomnia research study.
Learn about all the conditions we treat.
Focus Keyphrase: Acupuncture Depression Remedy
Photo by Engin Akyurt: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-standing-in-front-of-brown-wood-plank-1458826/
What our Clients are Saying
I was feeling depressed and stressed because I didn’t like my job and didn’t know what to do with my life. I started taking Lexipro but it really affected my libido so I stopped taking it. I tried acupuncture because my husband said it helped him when he was depressed years earlier (before he met me!) I went to Raleigh Acupuncture and started treatments. They were really knowledgeable about Chinese medicine and explained how the body gets stuck in depression, and how the acupuncture gets the body unstuck. They really listened to me and helped me figure stuff out. I started feeling less depressed. Then I actually started getting more clear about what I wanted to do with my life career-wise. I decided to go back to school and now I’m almost done with my degree. I haven’t felt depressed at all since I was treated and I’m really excited about my life. I’m very grateful to them for being such great healers and such a great support to me when I really needed it.
I had very severe depression after my son was born. The doctors put me on medication, which helped, but I still had no motivation and felt very sad. I tried acupuncture and it really improved my mood. I would say that within four weeks of starting treatment I was no longer depressed. My motivation returned, I was able to get out of bed in the morning ready to go, and I started enjoying my son for the first time. I think the combination of medications and acupuncture worked great for me. I appreciate the caring and skill at Raleigh Acupuncture and recommend them highly for treating depression.
