Acupuncture to Relieve Anxiety

Many people suffer from a combination of stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. While stress is a way of life for many of us, when we experience any thought or event that we perceive as stressful, our bodies produce hormones designed to help us respond by fleeing or being ready to fight. This is referred to as the 'fight or flight' response, and it isn't only triggered in battle. It can be triggered through work conflicts, relationship woes, lack of sleep, and all those everyday stresses that most of us experience.

While our natural 'fight or flight' response is terribly motivating when we have to avoid danger, it is meant as a short-term reaction to a risky, or life-threatening situation. Repeated stressful situations without adequate time for the body to recover can disrupt the body's natural balance causing even more stress and leading to anxiety.

How Anxiety Affects Your Life

Stressful events such as an important exam or a job interview can make anyone feel a little anxious, and some anxiety may be helpful motivation, but it has to end at some point. When the stress is chronic, however, and it turns to anxiety it can make you physically very ill causing fast heartbeat, fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, rapid breathing, trembling, and more.

Patients with chronic anxiety can begin to experience serious effects that can greatly interfere with their quality of lfe, including an exhausted immune system, short-term memory loss, digestive disorders, and more.

How Acupuncture Treats Anxiety

For many patients with mild to severe anxiety, acupuncture is a highly effective treatment. Acupuncture treats anxiety disorders without medication by cultivating a pattern of harmony within the body. A typical acupuncture treatment for anxiety feels like being in a safe zone of deep relaxation or meditation.

Patients with anxiety may need multiple weekly treatments initially; eventually, the treatments can spread out over time so that you are coming less often with better and better results.