Acupuncture for Anxiety

Can acupuncture treat anxiety?

Our Brisbane acupuncture clinics treat anxiety in many different forms from situational to disorders.  TLC Acupuncture has at least one acupuncturist in each practice who has a special interest and advanced training in treating Anxiety conditions.

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 anxiousness extends beyond these occasional situations and is felt regularly, then it’s a good time to get help.  Anxiety disorders cause distress and can interfere with a person’s ability to lead a normal, happy life.

Environmental factors, medical factors, brain chemistry, genetics, substance abuse, or a combination of these may cause anxiety disorders.

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 and less anxious(4).

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. We specifically tailor each treatment to you, combining acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and vitamin supplementation as required.

Most patients report feeling a reduction in anxiousness after a few treatments.  Treatments continue regularly until such time that anxiety is no longer an issue for them.

All our acupuncturists can treat anxiety however the most experienced practitioners for anxiety are Dr Tracey Beatty, Dr Allie Xu, Dr Mary-Ann Hardy, and Dr Nicholas Breen.

Clinical research trials for acupuncture as an effective treatment for anxiety

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:  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]

Disclaimer – Each individual’s treatment and/or results may vary from patient to patient based upon the circumstances of the patient’s specific situation.  A result is not promised and/or guaranteed  from the act of receiving a treatment.