By Hayley Stobbs R.Ac, CNC | Acupuncture Victoria BC

Waking up to the blaring sound of an alarm, running late for work or class, eating on the go, and weaving in and out of traffic while thinking about deadlines and demands are regular rhythms in modern day lives. By observing our culture’s quickening in these ways we can see that we are collectively in an extreme of doing and taking in contrast to being and receiving. When our unique sources of nourishment become drained by on-the-go schedules and routines, our ability to manage stress becomes more difficult, and anxiety can surmount.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tzu

Stress arises from a sense of fear, worry, futurizing, and/or depleted reserves (exhaustion), while anxiety is a more intense form of stress that involves panic, habitual catastrophizing, and increased somatic sensations. Both mental-emotional states are characterized by a sense of inner tension, negative thinking and feeling patterns, overwhelm, and a resistance to something that doesn’t happen or feel right.

Sources of modern day stress and anxiety:

• Family and relationships

• Societal expectations and ‘norms’

• Traffic

• School and work

• Finances

• Electromagnetic frequencies (EMF)

• Artificial lighting and scents

• Trauma and news reports

• Body image

• Drugs and stimulants

• Junk and convenience foods

• Limited beliefs

• Non-perceived, e.g. a big celebration

Both perceived and non-perceived sources of stress are obviously inevitable and unavoidable parts of our human existence. To an extent, accepting that stress happens, “so what”, is a part of the healing. At the same time, increments of pro-active participation with one’s relationship to their mental-emotional state must become routine in order for healing to take place. Regular self-care opens up space for awareness, intuition building, prevention, and understanding so that rest and relaxation, and ultimately health and happiness may become more available. 

Common biomedical causes and effects of anxiety:

• Chronic pain and tension

• Hormone imbalance

• Neurotransmitter imbalance, e.g. GABA, serotonin

• Autoimmune disease

• Respiratory and cardiovascular disorders

• Insomnia

• Digestive conditions

• Nutritional lack or excess

• Addiction

• Non perceived physical stress, e.g. a hidden infection

The link between mental-emotional and physical health is circular as opposed to linear, which can be explained through feedback loops such as the gut-brain axis and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Through multifaceted interactions as these we can see that stress and anxiety are both causes and/or effects of health conditions, though keep in mind that on-sets and reasons are as varied and diverse as co-conditions are. For example, anxiety can be formed through experiences and genetic expression, such as a traumatic experience in childhood turning on genes that favour anxiety producing neural pathways.  For others, anxiety can arise due to declining hormones throughout menopause, from nutritional lack or excess, and via food constituents or qualities. 

Acupuncture, Stress, and Anxiety

As a registered acupuncturist it is my purpose to teach holism--that your mind, emotions, spirit, anatomy, physiology, and environment, are one. Mental-emotional disharmonies have the potential to disturb the soul and to alter the internal organs and meridians. Likewise, meridian blockages and constitutional organ disorders can affect one’s mental- emotional state of being. According to Chinese medicine stress and anxiety arise due to qi stagnation (lack of functional, energetic, or emotional flow in one’s life), and is commonly associated with multiple meridian and organ disharmonies. Acupuncture helps strengthen the body-mind, which boosts one’s innate ability to clear meridian blockages and to regulate imbalances.

“Chronic fear leads to static fluids and less ability to respond to threatening situations. It prevents thinking in a fluid way. Just as physically the fluid in the joints helps people throw a ball, the fluids of the mind and spirit help them to flow and manifest smoothly.”- Angela and John Hicks

Acupuncture is an extremely effective treatment for stress and anxiety. This is because acupuncture is a form of mindfulness meditation, as it allows the individual to engage in being and receiving as the needles guide the mind-body into a deep state of relaxation. Biomedically, acupuncture works with the brain by acting on the nervous system. Inserting a needle stimulates nervous system receptors. The receptor response increases brain firing and creates specific neurochemical changes. This brain and nervous system communication regulates the parasympathetic nervous system, boosts mood through serotonin and dopamine release, and eases pain through relieving muscle tension and the release of endorphins. As the needles are retained the body’s electromagnetic energy balances and improved blood flow occurs. Blood brings oxygen, nutrients, immune substances, analgesics, and anti-inflammatories to areas of the body that require healing.

Patients see improvement in mood, immune strength, energy, digestion, hormone regulation, and overall sense of well-being. I recommend one to two treatments per week until symptoms subside to a point where one tune-up treatment per month is required.

Ultimately, a thorough assessment and the implementation of nutrition, lifestyle, and self-care habits can dramatically improve stress and anxiety levels. In addition to acupuncture I often recommend cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and/or mind-body practices such as yoga and meditation, bodywork, qi gong or tai chi. I also often refer to naturopathic physicians for lab work so that digestive, hormone, and neurological sources of stress can be assessed.

References

1) Kharrazian, Datis. “Why Isn’t My Brain Working? A Revolutionalry Understanding of Brain Decline and Effective Strategies to Recover Your Brain’s Health.” Carlsbad, CA: Elephant Press LP, 2013.

2) MacPherson, Hugh et al. “Acupuncture and Counselling for Depression in Primary Care: A Randomised Controlled Trial.” Ed. Vikram Patel. PLoS Medicine 10.9 (2013): e1001518. PMC. Web. 16 June 2017.

3) Napadow, Vitaly et al. “Brain Correlates of Phasic Autonomic Response to Acupuncture Stimulation: An Event-Related fMRI Study.” Human brain mapping 34.10 (2013): 2592–2606. PMC. Web. 4 June 2017.

4) Vickers, Andrew J. et al. “Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis.” Archives of internal medicine 172.19 (2012): 1444–1453. PMC. Web. 2 June 2017.

5) Chu WC, WU JC, Yew DT, Zhang L, Shi L Yeung DK, Want D, Tong RK, Chan Y, Lao L, Leung PC, Berman BM, Sung JJ. “Does acupuncture therapy alter activation of neural pathway for pain perception in irritable bowel syndrome?: a comparative study of true and sham acupuncture using functional magnetic resonance imaging.” J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 18(3): 305-16. June 2017.

6) An YS, Moon SK, Min IK, Kim DY. “Changes in regional cerebral blood flow and glucose metabolism following electroacupuncture at LI 4 and LI 11 in normal volunteers.” J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Oct;15(10):1075-81. doi: 10.1089/acm.2009.0257. June 2017.