Yes! In fact, treating anxiety is one of the main reasons we set out to learn Chinese Medicine and founded our practice. When it comes to mental health, evidence shows that holistic approaches can have lasting effects on managing stress and anxiety. At Autonomic Acupuncture, we offer not only the services of acupuncture and herbal consultation, but overall guidance on how you can control what seems so often to be out of control.
Anxiety, at its basic level, is a dysfunction in our bodies’ nervous system, specifically the Autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS is divided into two parts: the “Yang” sympathetic part (the part that keeps us alert, active, and ready to take on things that may threaten us) and the more “Yin” part, the parasympathetic nervous system, which takes over when we are calm, relaxed, and without significant distraction. No matter if there appears to be a direct cause or not, when we become anxious, the “Yang” sympathetic system rises and causes our heart to beat faster, our digestion to stall, and our mind to begin looking out for danger. We become unable to function when we experience the stress of feeling that something bad is going to happen. But, when we learn to engage our “Yin” parasympathetic system, these feelings of being threatened start to dissipate. When we use acupuncture needles, we are engaging the parasympathetic system to encourage the body to get in touch with that more relaxed state. We will never be able to completely turn off the part of our body that keeps us on our toes (nor should we!), but with the treatment of acupuncture, we can help you build a more balanced relationship within the body so that these fluctuations happen less severely and frequently.
In addition—and unlike the traditional Western approach, which only focuses on drugs and psychotherapy—we incorporate a holistic approach which includes acupuncture, diet, and lifestyle changes to help you manage your illness. We will also work with you to develop at-home techniques and practices to battle episodes that occur while you’re out of our office.
