Anxiety and Depression

CURRENT MAINSTREAM METHODS ARE LACKING

Western Medicine tends to approach to alleviating anxiety and depression centers around two main treatments: prescription medications and psychotherapy. While these approaches do have scientific support, the side effects they produce can be unpleasant, are often prohibitively expensive, or (in the case of medications) tend to focus only on treating symptoms. Not everyone responds positively to conventional Western approaches either. Treatment-resistant depression is beginning to become a problem as the number of patients continue to grow.

LOOKING AT THE PROBLEM IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT

From a Chinese medicine perspective, anxiety and depression can be understood as a disturbance to the shen, (we can call this our spirit). When the shen is disturbed, manifestations might include a feeling of lack of meaning in one’s life, an inability to connect to other people, feelings of worthlessness and self-loathing, lack of energy, and feeling inauthentic, among other things. Also, if qi/energy is stuck in the body, not moving smoothly, the emotions may also get stuck, in fear, or anger, or grief for instance. Chinese medicine treats these conditions by reconnecting the spirit with the deepest sense of our self, and with something larger than our selves. And it can guide the qi to move more smoothly, alleviating feelings of being stuck emotionally or spiritually. People are often helped during the first session. Ones journey towards recovery requires a dual commitment, it takes the dedication of patient and practitioner working together to make the necessary changes in one’s body, mind and spirit. The treatment length depends on the severity of the condition. Anxiety can often be addressed quickly. Long term, debilitating depression can be a much longer process. But during the process, the patient can see progress, in small and large ways. The human potential is extraordinarily misunderstood, there is always the possibility for healing, no matter how difficult the disease may appear to be.