Chinese Medicine, Anxiety and Depression

The old fashioned term for Chinese Medicine (CM) was Traditional Chinese Medicine. In the modern world the term Traditional has started to be dropped as Chinese Medicine practitioners are now being trained in Medical Bioscience as well. Therefore the thinking is that Chinese Medicine is now modern. Those that are trained in human Biology and Chinese Medicine are now Doctors of Chinese Medicine.

When looking at the body within a Chinese Medicine (CM) framework, a simple approach is to divide the body into its Yin and Yang and then into Qi, Blood and Fluids. When talking about CM and Anxiety or Depression and trying to keep the discussion simple, we don't need to consider the Yin and Yang, but only the Qi, Blood and Fluids.

In CM there needs to be a free flow of Qi, Blood and Body Fluids for there to be a health of the body, mind and spirit.
The way CM views Anxiety/Depression then is simple, move the Qi and the symptoms will alleviate. How does one move Qi? Before that can be answered, the cause of the disruption needs to be found. In CM, disruption of Qi can be caused by external factors or internal ones. External causes can lead to internal disruption of different organs and this requires different treatments.

Use of Acupuncture

Acupuncture treatment for Anxiety/Depression revolves around the stimulation of the bodies Qi by inserting hair fine needles into Acupuncture points along the body's energy lines called meridians.

Some peope find that it is a simple adjustment to the Qi flow and only a few treatments of not often (once a week) are required, and others require treatment every day for a short period to "kick start" the flow of Qi.

Use of Herbs

Herbal formulas are tailored to the individual and will vary depending on severity of symptoms and also on the organs involved. However the common herbs used are;

• Huang Qi, astragalus
• Ren Shen, ginseng
• Dang Shen codonopsis
• Dang Gui, angelica sinensis
• Shu Di Huang, cooked rehmannia
• Sheng Di Huang, rehmannia; and
• Chai Hu, bupleuri

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