If you’ve been diagnosed with an anxiety or panic disorder, chances are that your physician has tried to prescribe the usual treatments for your condition: prescription medications and therapy along with recommendations for exercise regimens and diet as well as relaxation methods. However, there is one other treatment which is often effective that they may not have mentioned and this is acupuncture. This is a traditional Chinese medical technique which has been used for millennia to treat a variety of ailments, including anxiety.
Alternative medical practitioners and practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine hold that there are three areas where panic and anxiety manifest themselves in the physical body: the heart, spleen and kidneys. According to adherents of the technique, the kidney is where fear (including anxiety attacks and panic) is situated in the body, along with being the organ responsible for your constitution and how healthy you stay as you grow older.
Stress is hard on your kidneys and since these are such important organs, it means that stress is hard on the entire body. As for the spleen, it is believed to be the organ responsible for the organization of ideas – and as such, it is thought to be the physical repository of worries. In Chinese medicine, the heart is perceived much the same way as we look at the brain in the west; that is to say, the seat of consciousness.
Acupuncture is able to treat the spleen, heart and kidneys all at once to reduce stress and alleviate panic attacks. The therapy is designed to ease the heart first and foremost; once this happens, the effects of stress on all of the organs will decrease as well. Western researchers have found acupuncture to have positive effects on brain chemistry, including producing a calmer mental state. This is borne out by the reports of patients who have undergone the treatment for themselves.
An acupuncturist is able to provide relief for anxiety and panic disorders by inserting incredibly thin needles in precisely measured pressure points throughout the body. These hair-thin needles are believed to clear obstructions in the flow of energy through the body which are thought to lead to illness in traditional Chinese medicine. The result of the treatment is to provide the patient with a feeling of well being as endorphins are released – and afterwards, the patient continues to experience a sense of relaxation and a significantly reduced stress level which enables them to live their lives free of intense anxiety and panic.
