by Michael Hurley L.Ac.
Do you suffer from depression either occasionally or chronically? Depression is highly individual. From just feeling a little down to feeling high strung with their minds racing, to finding it very difficult to function normally, depression affects people in a wide variety of ways.
Additionally, there can be many reasons why depression hits ranging from external (relationships, weather, political stress, etc.) to internal (hormonal imbalances, psycho-emotional disorders). Chinese Medicine recognizes that there are individualized ways depression affects the overall balance on an individual.
Diagnosing Your Depression
Diagnosis and treatment are never “one size fits most.” Instead, Chinese Medicine looks at the underlying patterns that may be appearing in the person. Is it a deficient pattern? Is it an excess pattern? Is it a combination of both? What meridian or organ system are the imbalances appearing in? Depression will usually show up as a deficient or an excess pattern.
Some symptoms that your Acupuncturist may be looking for include tongue color, colors in various parts of the face, achiness or distension in various parts of the body, emotions that are more prevalent than others recently, and many more. With this information, which the Acupuncturist will obtain from feeling the pulse and viewing the tongue, they will know how to customize the treatment to promote healing and balance.
Both the presenting symptoms and the patterns that the acupuncturist reads in the tongue and pulse inform the course of treatment. This includes which areas of the body acupuncture needles will be placed and frequency of treatment. In addition to the acupuncture treatment, your Acupuncturist may also prescribe a Chinese herbal formula to help treat the imbalance along with some nutritional changes that can be made to support your healing.
Acupuncture is a technique used by practitioners of Chinese medicine where hair-thin needles are strategically inserted just under the skin to promote the flow of Qi throughout the body. The single most common thing that my patients tell me they experience during an acupuncture treatment is a distinct calming of the mind. Under the regular care of a licensed acupuncturist, you can expect to increase energy, calm your moods, fight off illness more efficiently, sleep more regularly, reduce cravings(food, drugs, and alcohol), digest your food more efficiently, and gain an overall balance in your body, mind, and spirit. Regular care is 1 to 3 acupuncture treatments per week depending on the severity of your symptoms.
In addition to following the course of treatment prescribed by your acupuncturist, there are things you can to do to help as well. Things that you can do for yourself to lift your mood include meditation, use of uplifting essential oils (sage, bergamot, sandalwood, mandarin, lemongrass, and grapefruit), exercise (20-30 minutes a day), quit smoking, receive Reiki, and visit your local acupuncturist.
Depression is not something to take lightly. If you experience deep bouts of depression, do not hesitate to seek out professional psychiatric help. I hope you find this information helpful and I hope that you try some of the tips listed earlier in this article. If you have not done so already, be sure to call and book an appointment with an Acupuncturist so they can help you return to a balanced state.
- This article was written by Michael Hurley L.Ac. Michael is the co-owner and acupuncturist at Cup of Life Healing Center located at 82 Washington Street Suite 2 in Keene, NH. (603) 352-3625
