woman with anxiety acupuncture vancouver

Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety is a serious and devastating condition.

And at the same time, it is a condition many people experience but don’t treat. 

We tend to “push” the situation down, try to ignore it, try to get busy and hope it will pass, and sometimes is does.

In mild to medium anxiety conditions, most people can function somewhat well, and can hide the condition well enough, so it’s not clear to others how much they are suffering.

Acupuncture is a natural and effective way to treat anxiety, with a good TCM diagnosis and experience in treating the condition, Acupuncture can be a great solution to the problem.

From a TCM view, Anxiety usually happened with there is a stagnation of Qi that affect the Heart system, and create heat in the Heart system. Acupuncture treatment “moves” the stagnation of Qi and reduce the heat in the System, as well as relax the whole body and mind, to reduce Anxiety.

What can you do, at home,  when you feel anxious,

  • Strong aerobic exercise.
    • go for a run, cycle or a swim, something that will elevate your heart rate, and possibly will bring some sweat, this will relax the body and mind and temporarily reduce the anxiety.
  • Breathing relaxation,
    • Deep diaphragm breathing, (there are many different techniques, and Dr. Eyal Lebel will go through some of them with you in your Acupuncture treatment)
  • Herbal teas
    • Mostly Chamomile, as well as Lavender, Hops, Lemon balm, (melissa) and more.
  • Acupressure/ massage
    • Massaging Pc-6 acupuncture point, close to your wrist, can make a difference.
    • Massage of the feet, hands, scalp and the whole body, can made a difference .

Treatment of Anxiety with Traditional Chinese Herbal remedies and Acupuncture

Anxiety is an emotional/ mental condition that most of us experience in our life from time to time as a reaction to internal or external stress. Anxiety often involves some physical symptoms like rapid heart rate, shortness of breath and muscle tension, as well as general worry and fear in the absence of clear physical danger.

Anxiety becomes a serious problem when it stops being an occasional passing feeling that we can easily overcome and becomes a chronic and debilitating feeling that prevents us from living a happy and satisfying life.

The common western medical treatment for anxiety is anti-anxiety medication, like Ativan, which usually results in a quick relief of symptoms but carry a definite possibility of side effects, such as drowsiness, rebound effect and habit formation.

Psychotherapy, especially Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, is the go to treatment form and considered to be highly effective in alleviating symptoms of anxiety and may assist clients in regaining their sense of control and well-being.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) approaches anxiety as an emotion that occurs when the balance in the heart system is disrupted. (in Chinese medicine the heart system is different from the western heart system and includes……). An imbalance in the heart system may lead to excessive “heat”, which, in turn, often leads to sleep problems and/or anxiety.

A stressful life, stressful situations and traumas can lead to imbalances in the heart system and cause anxiety.

Acupuncture treatment, which is a part of TCM treatment approach, works very well during the initial stage of anxiety and for acute attacks by relaxing the body and calming the mind. Long term and more severe forms of anxiety are treated also with Chinese herbal remedies with great success.

There are specific supplements, homeopathic remedies and western herbal remedies that are very important and helpful in the treatment of anxiety.

This post was written in collaboration with Dr. Michal Regev, Ph.D. Psychologist, specializing in the treatment of pre and post-partum women.