Acupuncture for Anxiety

Can acupuncture help with anxiety?

Yes, our Brisbane acupuncture clinics can treat all types of Anxiety.  Clinical research shows that Acupuncture is an effective, safe and drug-free treatment for anxiety (1).  It is useful for a variety of anxiety disorders such as panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder, social phobia,  specific phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder.

What causes anxiety?

Anxiety is a normal human emotion and it affects everyone at some point in their life.  Most people feel anxious in certain situations, like before taking a test, speaking in public or when making important decisions. Acupuncture has been shown to be helpful in reducing anxiety related to these types of stressful situations (2).

If anxiety extends beyond these occasional situations and is felt regularly, then an anxiety disorder is forming.  We recommend immediate acupuncture treatment.  Anxiety disorders cause distress and can interfere with a person’s ability to lead a normal, happy life.

Anxiety disorders may be caused by environmental factors, medical factors, brain chemistry, genetics, substance abuse, or a combination of these.

High levels of stress hormones in the blood increase the likelihood to feel anxious.

How can acupuncture help?

Acupuncture stimulates the release of endorphins and other “feel good” hormones that lower the stress hormone in the blood (3).   This makes you feel more relaxed (4) helps to clear the mind of obsessive worrying thoughts and lowers your reaction to triggers that usually cause you to feel anxious.   

The acupuncturist will also take a full medical history to determine your current state of health and to help identify any possible medical factors that may have lead to the development of your anxiety.  Each treatment is specifically tailored to you, combining acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and vitamin supplementation as required. 

Patients report feeling less anxious with each treatment until such time that anxiety is no longer an issue for them.

When should I see an acupuncturist?

The sooner you come in for treatment for the anxiety symptoms, the sooner you can start to feel better again.  Patients often see a result after just a few sessions. 

All our acupuncturists can treat anxiety however Soo Hyun Song, Monica Mornay, and Tracey Beatty all have a special interest in this field.  Their advanced training means they can provide you with additional advice on coping with anxiety which will speed up your recovery time.

Clinical research trials for acupuncture as an effective treatment for anxiety

There are numerous clinical reports which attest to the efficacy of acupuncture as a treatment for
anxiety (5), even compared to conventional treatments (1):

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1744388118300689
2 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2005290116300231
3 A Comprehensive Guide To Chinese Medicine, (Second Edition). edited by Leung Ping-chung. p150.
World Scientific, 2015.
4 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4939-3023-4_37
5 https://erinkumpf.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/out-2.pdf
6 Auricular acupuncture: a potential treatment for anxiety was conducted in Feb 2001 by Wang SM
and Kain ZN.
It concluded that “auricular acupuncture at the “relaxation” point can decrease the anxiety level in a
population of healthy volunteers.”
PMID: 11159266 [PubMed]

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