Anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe.  Everyone has feelings of anxiety at some point in their life – it is normal to feel worried and anxious about sitting an exam, or a job interview.  But some people find it hard to control their worries. Their feelings of anxiety are more constant and can often affect every aspect of their daily lives. 

Western medicine labels anxiety as the main symptom of several debilitating conditions, including phobias, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a long-term condition that causes people to feel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues, rather than one specific event.

People with GAD feel anxious most days and often struggle to remember the last time they felt relaxed.  As soon as one anxious thought is resolved, another may appear about a different issue.  GAD can cause both psychological (mental) and physical symptoms. These vary from person to person, but can include feeling restless or worried, having trouble concentrating or sleeping to dizziness or heart palpitations.

Whilst Western medicine would seek to treat the symptoms of anxiety with either medication or therapy, a Five Element Acupuncturist seeks to address the energetic imbalance that is the underlying cause within the individual. To stay healthy, we need to be able to move and change with circumstances and not become overwhelmed by stress to the point that we cannot recover our normal energy balance.  Five Element Acupuncture treatment aims to restore the harmony of the body, the mind and the spirit and so as one improves so does the rest.

Whilst the symptoms might be similar, from a Chinese medicine perspective every individual is unique. Patients with a water imbalance can present as fearful and it might be obvious to assume that fear and anxiety could be connected: water is the foundation of life and without it our very survival is threatened.  Equally if we are unable to trust in the abundance in our lives and fear scarcity, of food or any other resource, this might equally contribute to feelings of anxiety. If we are unable to organize ourselves, to plan, or to decide how to move forward with life’s daily decisions, in our fast paced world this can be debilitating.  If we are unable to appreciate the value and purpose of our lives’ we might experience feelings of despair or if we are just not able to relax and enjoy the company of friends this might produce the symptoms of anxiety. 

An acupuncturist might advise on lifestyle changes that might promote better balance but won’t seek to change the situation.  However, as the patient becomes better able to move forward in their lives over time as their acute symptoms begin to disappear, they make the necessary adjustments themselves.  They can literally go with the flow.