Acupuncture for Mental Wellbeing
In today’s fast-paced society, managing your mental wellbeing is more important than ever. The mind-body connection is an important part of Chinese medicine with one having an effect on the other, both positively and negatively. If your mental wellbeing suffers, it can cause physical symptoms, such as headaches or nausea. The opposite can also occur with physical disease contributing to mental illness, such as stress, anxiety or depression. To achieve harmony in health, we have to look after both our body and mind. Here’s how acupuncture can help towards better mental wellbeing:
Stress Management
Stress not only takes a toll on our physical health but also wreaks havoc on our mental wellbeing. By targeting key points associated with relaxation and stress reduction, acupuncture treatment can regulate emotions, promote a state of relaxation and calm the central nervous system, allowing the mind to unwind and reset.
Anxiety
Anxiety is in essence worrying about the future, but it presents itself differently for everyone. For some it is the fluttering of butterflies in the stomach, whilst for others there is a constant whirl of worry in the mind. However it presents itself, there is always a profound sense of unease and apprehension. Acupuncture seeks to unravel the knots of anxiety by addressing the underlying imbalances within the body and calming the mind. After acupuncture treatment, many patients experience a state of relaxation, which can increase with continued treatment.
Depression
Depression occurs when we regret or worry about the past, which manifests as a profound sense of despair and hopelessness and fogging of the mind. This can stop us from moving forwards in life. Acupuncture treatment can help released blocked energy, calms the mind to stop worrying about the past and aims to increase levels of feel-good brain chemicals like dopamine and serotonin.
Balancing Mood Swings
Mood swings are an intense or sudden change in emotional state and where the mood changes from high to low or low to high. It can be caused by a number of factors, such as a change in hormone levels or experiencing a significant life change. In Chinese Medicine, this is due to the energy not flowing smoothly which causes the emotions to also not flow smoothly. Acupuncture regulates this flow of energy which can help balance mood and emotions. It can also regulate hormone imbalances if this is contributing to mood swings.
Sleep Disturbances
When our mental health suffers, one of the first things that can become affected is our sleep. We can struggle with insomnia (both having difficulty falling asleep and waking in the night), have dream-disturbed sleep, wake still feeling tired and generally feel unrested. Acupuncture can help relax the nervous system, regulate the circadian rhythm and calm the mind, all of which promotes a better nights sleep.
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If you would like to improve your mental wellbeing, book an appointment an appointment or contact us for more information.