Mental Health Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Acupuncture in the Park

Improve Your Memory with Chinese Medicine

Do you sometimes walk into a room and forget what you went there for? Have you ever drawn a blank on a close friend’s name? Do you routinely forget common words? If you worry that your memory is going, join the club. These little episodes are embarrassing and frustrating, but are you on the fast track to Alzheimer’s? Probably not.

Memory loss can the result of a number of factors, the most common of which is your age. However, hormonal changes, diet, stress, and simply trying to do too many things at once can also mess with your memory.

There are a couple of organ systems in Chinese medicine that are related to memory. The first (that I can remember) is your Heart. The Chinese Heart is home to your consciousness, spirit, feelings, thoughts, and…yes, your memory. Memory loss is one of the hallmark signs of a Heart disharmony.

Your Chinese Spleen is the organ closely related to digestion. Good digestion helps something called clear Yang to rise upward allowing for mental clarity. When your digestion is funky, you may experience fuzzy thinking and memory problems, along with digestive symptoms, such as heartburn, stomachaches, low blood sugar, gas, bloating, poor absorption of foods, and diarrhea or constipation.

The Kidney system is also a player in memory. One of the important functions of your Chinese Kidney system is how well and healthfully you will age. As you get older, your Kidney gets weaker as a matter of course, affecting everything from your hearing to the strength of your bones, and your mental function/memory. Along with aging, your Kidney also controls things like growth, sexuality, and reproduction. When women go through menopause, their Kidney system is affected, which is why memory seems to take an additional hit during this time.

So the question is: Can Chinese medicine and acupuncture help with memory loss? There is no simple yes or no, depending on the source of the problem. However, in many instances, Chinese medicine can help. For some people, memory problems are directly related to the amount of stress they’re experiencing, and in others, the memory issues began as part of menopause. For older adults who are beginning to show the signs of senile dementia, it may be too late to reverse their memory loss.

According to Chinese medicine, there are some things that you can do to safeguard your memory. This includes:

-Simplify your life. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, your brain is full. At a certain point, you just can’t hold onto any more details, so you start to forget them.

-Jettison the stress. Stressful situations cause you to be preoccupied, making it difficult for you to remember anything except details about what’s stressing you out. Do whatever it takes, whether it’s steps to resolve the stressful situation, or a Yoga class, meditation, taking up a hobby, or carving out quiet time to yourself.

-Eat good food. It sounds simple, but it’s not always so easy when you’re running from meeting to meeting or getting your kids from one activity to another. Sometimes the only solution seems to be something quick—and not so good for you. Take the time to plan what you’ll eat, and bring it with you if necessary. Good food is whole food, unprocessed, whole grains, lots of vegetables, and a little protein, with very small amounts of red meat, if any. Ditch the sugar, as it messes with your blood sugar levels and can be a direct contributor to fuzzy thinking. Remember the Twinkie defense?

-Digest that good food you’ve eaten. Take the time to sit down and eat. Chew your food and sit up straight. In addition, cooked foods tend to be easier to digest, and ice cold foods and drinks bring your digestion to a halt.

-Protect your Chinese Kidney. How? Well, slow down, for one. Overwork can be a direct cause of illness and depletion in Chinese medicine. Also, excessive partying, while fun, weakens your Kidney system and sends you into your senior years in less than optimal health.

In addition to Chinese medicine, Western doctors and scientists are looking for ways to protect memory as we age. They have been conducting research on memory and the various factors that may help slow memory loss. Among them:

-Get moving. Data from a study that began in the 1930’s shows that moderate exercise (as little as two times a week!) can lower your chances of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

-If you’re a smoker, quit now. While you can’t completely undo the damage in terms of degeneration to your brain, the sooner you quit the better.

-Drink green tea. Results from a 2006 study indicate that as little as a cup or two a day of green tea, which is packed full of antioxidants, can cut your risk of cognitive problems by 50 percent.

-Make lists. Memory lapses can be the by-product of simply trying to do too many things at once. At a certain point, your brain just can’t hold any more details. Make lists of the things you want to do or remember to get rid of some of that brain clutter.

-Play mind games. Crossword puzzles, soduku, trivia quizzes, or even learning a new skill or language can keep your brain exercised and can slow memory loss.

The good news here is that small changes can be enough to yield big results as long as you keep them up. A few cups of green tea, acupuncture to relieve stress, exercising a couple days a week, and moderate changes in your diet can be enough to lower your risk of age related memory problems.

Treating Anxiety with Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine

If you suffer from anxiety or panic attacks, you’re very familiar with the symptoms—heart palpitations or the sensation of a racing heart, chest tightness, numbness and tingling in your hands and feet, feeling light headed, shortness of breath, and the general feeling of fear, or that you might die right now.

Anxiety can be a tricky thing. For some people it seems to come out of nowhere and creep up at unexpected moments. For others, anxiety is predictable and associated with certain events, fears, or situations. Things like driving on the highway, eating in restaurants, and spiders all have the potential to create anxiety.

There are a number of causes of anxiety. Traumatic events top the list. People who have been exposed to trauma, violence, emotional duress, or threats of any kind know the source of their anxiety. This includes unrelenting stress and worry over a life event or situation that’s not easily resolved.

Unfortunately, many people experience anxiety symptoms and don’t know why, which only makes the anxiety worse. These are the people who think they’re going crazy because they seemingly have no reason to feel anxious. However, it’s important to know that anxiety can be caused by physical problems, such as hormonal imbalances, digestive issues, heart problems, and drug side effects.

Anxiety can run in families. I have found that many of my patients who suffer from anxiety have either a parent or a child who also struggles with anxiety, too. This may be due to genetic makeup or how a particular family copes with stressful life events. Whether anxiety in families is due to nature or nurture, it’s not uncommon that family members will have similar triggers for their anxiety.

In Chinese medicine, there are three organ systems related to anxiety; the Heart, Spleen, and Kidneys.

The Chinese view anxiety as worry that has gotten out of control. Each organ system is associated with an emotion, and worry is the emotion associated with the Chinese Spleen. The Spleen is also your organ system of digestion. It sifts and sorts what you’ve eaten, takes what is useful, turns it into nutrients to fuel your body, and gets rid of what is not needed. While your Spleen primarily digests foods, it also plays a role in the sifting and sorting of ideas. While the emotion associated with the Spleen is worry, it is essentially the same as not being able to sort through and let go of unnecessary ideas. Worry is a kind of unhealthy rumination, and when it gets out of control, worry becomes anxiety and fear.

While your Spleen is the organ of digestion, your Heart is the Chinese organ of feelings. We intuitively know that the Heart is an emotional organ. We feel things with all our heart, have our heart broken, or thank someone from the bottom of our heart. Your Heart is home to the Shen, or your spirit, according to Chinese theory. Its function is similar to that of your brain in Western biomedicine. As such your Heart is the home to consciousness, memory, emotions, and thinking. Whenever someone suffers from any kind of emotional upset or condition, such as anxiety, the Heart is always involved.

Finally, the Chinese Kidney also plays a role in anxiety in a couple of ways. First, the emotion related to the Kidney is fear, which is the underlying component of anxiety. Secondly, the Kidney is the deepest and most nourishing of our organs. It’s responsible for how well you age, your underlying body constitution, and is the source of all the fundamental substances in your body, such as Yin, Yang, and Essence. Your Kidney is the organ system most damaged by stress and anxiety. The Western condition of adrenal fatigue (from stress, anxiety, overwork, etc.) correlates to a severe Kidney depletion in Chinese medicine.

Chinese medicine and acupuncture can offer a number of strategies to help someone suffering from anxiety. Your practitioner would work by first calming your Shen using acupuncture. This is an effective first line of defense, as research has documented the positive effects that acupuncture has on brain chemistry. It has been found that acupuncture increases the secretion of endorphins in the brain, the feel good substance associated with pain relief and runner’s high. This effect accounts for the relaxing and calming sensation patients feel both during and after their treatments.

A practitioner of Chinese medicine might also address your anxiety by nourishing your Spleen and restoring your Kidney health. Beyond acupuncture, there are a number of safe and effective herbal formulas that can help calm anxiety. Your practitioner can prescribe the combination of herbs that is most appropriate to your individual needs.

Food therapy and lifestyle changes may also be part of your treatment for anxiety. This may include at-home calming strategies, avoiding stimulants such as coffee or tea, dietary changes, and breathing techniques—all of which can be effective in relieving anxiety.

Your Emotions, Digestion, and Acupuncture

Have you ever heard people talk about having butterflies in their stomach, a gut feeling, a nervous stomach, or a visceral reaction? Of course you have. We use these terms because we intuitively know that our emotions are very closely tied to our digestion.

One of the most common conditions that we see in the clinic is something called a Liver and Spleen disharmony. This just means that strong emotions are interfering with the digestive process. If you’ve ever had a huge emotional upset that has ruined your appetite or given you an upset stomach, you know what I’m talking about. A Liver and Spleen disharmony is similar, but it usually works in slow motion.

Your Chinese Liver is an organ system that oversees the smooth flow of everything in your body, including digestion, bowels, circulation, menses, and emotions. Stress, anger, or an emotional upheaval can cause the Liver system to stagnate. When this happens, one of the first things it affects is your Chinese Spleen, which is your organ of digestion.

In the clinic this pattern is a player in many, if not most, conditions affecting our patients. It can manifest in conditions such as Irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, depression, insomnia, PMS, fatigue, and even obesity, to name just a few.

So what exactly is happening when you are stressed out, upset or worried? Your stomach is a muscle, and when you’re in the emotional wringer, that stomach muscle contracts, making it difficult for you to digest much of anything.

Why you have this reaction goes back to the fight or flight response you experience when you’re stressed or feel threatened. Your body responds by shutting down those functions that aren’t necessary to run or fight, including digestion. The idea is that in ancient times, feeling threatened was a short-lived affair—only as long as it took to chase off or kill the wild animal lingering in front of your cave.

Today, however, many of us are in a constant state of fight or flight due to the unrelenting stress of our daily lives—whether it’s a cranky boss, a sick kid, a late mortgage payment, or having too much to do. Constant emotional upheaval doesn’t give your body time to recover its equilibrium, and your digestion stays on the back burner, unable to do its job effectively.

What can you do to get your digestion back on track and working efficiently? The most important thing to know is that it’s a two-step process: getting your stress and emotions under control, while you pamper your digestive tract. Acupuncture can be extremely effective for this kind of imbalance. In fact, many of our patients who have recovered from this kind of pattern never dreamt that they could ever feel good again. Two things you can do for yourself:

-Calm down and chill out. This may seem to be the most obvious, but is often the hardest thing to do. Find time during your day to relax; whether you take a yoga class, meditate, go fishing, or take a stroll in the woods. Without decompressing, your emotions and digestion will not have an opportunity to recover.

-Pamper your digestion. This means sitting down and actually eating a meal—not something on the run in between meetings or kids’ sporting events. This also means eating good food, fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains and a little protein. Cooking most of your food makes it easier to digest—raw foods take more digestive effort to break down. The same goes for very cold foods; when you drink or eat something frozen, it uses up a lot of your digestive energy. Chewing your food and enjoying the dining process will help you digest your meal more effectively.

Is Stress Causing Your Weight Gain?

There was an article in my local paper last week about the relationship between stress and weight gain. The gist of the article was that during the current economic crisis many people who are stressed about their financial situation turn to food as a way to cope.

Medical experts know that stress and other strong negative emotions have an impact on your body’s hormonal balance, specifically the balance of adrenaline, cortisol, and insulin. In addition, it’s known that hormonal changes caused by stress can be responsible for weight gain around your middle, and can increase your risk for certain cardiovascular health problems. Your doctor may describe this phenomenon as the difference between being pear shaped (good) versus apple shaped (not so good).

In Chinese medicine, this same phenomenon would be described as a Liver/Spleen disharmony, or a case of your emotions upsetting your digestion. Your Chinese Liver is the organ system that regulates the smooth movement of everything in your body, including your emotions, circulation, menstrual cycles, and digestion. The function of the Spleen system is to efficiently turn food into nutrients, energy, and blood—in other words, all aspects of digestion. You know your Spleen isn’t up to par when you have signs or symptoms related to your digestion, including food cravings or a loss of appetite, constipation or loose stools, stomachaches, nausea, and weight gain. You might think that if you’re gaining weight your digestion is just fine, thank you very much, but in reality, weight gain is a signal that your digestion is impaired in some way.

How can acupuncture or Chinese medicine help? There are a couple of answers. First, acupuncture is an excellent way to soothe your emotions. It can effectively help people who are feeling stressed, anxious or depressed. It seems odd that the insertion of a couple of needles can affect your emotions or mood, but research has in fact documented that acupuncture alters brain chemistry in a good way.

Secondly, using a combination of acupuncture, herbs, and food therapy, a practitioner of Chinese medicine can help you get your weight under control. Not only can it help you with food cravings, but Chinese medicine is an incredibly effective treatment for digestive problems.

If stress is impacting your health or causing weight gain, think about acupuncture. It’s safe, effective, and organic.

Acupuncture for Seasonal Affective Disorder

by Lynn Jaffee, L.Ac.

If this cool fall weather has you thinking of palm trees, sunny beaches, and moving south, you’re not alone! Everyone feels the effects of fall in one way or another. However, for some, the move from the bright days of summer to the cool winter weather brings with it a form of depression, called Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD.

People who suffer from SAD feel fine during the warmer months, but suffer from symptoms such as depression, fatigue, lack of motivation, difficulty concentrating, and lethargy during the late fall and winter. Over ten million people in the United States suffer from SAD, two-thirds of which are women. The cause of SAD is unknown, but it is thought by western doctors to be related to a drop in melatonin levels in the brain caused by decreased exposure to sunlight during the winter. Currently, SAD is treated through the use of light therapy, and in some cases, antidepressants.

From a Chinese medical framework, SAD is related to an imbalance between Yin and Yang. The theory of Yin and Yang was developed thousands of years ago to describe the relationship between opposing forces in nature. Yang describes that which is bright, active, moving, warm and transforming. In contrast, Yin describes those things which are cool, dark, still, and nourishing. This time of year the seasons are changing from summer, which is a bright and warm Yang time of the year to the colder, darker, and more nourishing Yin winter months.

For some people, the abundance of Yin during the winter becomes overwhelming, giving way to the hallmark symptoms of SAD. Lethargy, fatigue, and lack of motivation all reflect Yin characteristics. Like a frozen river, this lack of movement ultimately creates stagnation which manifests as depression and feelings of sadness.

While there is no magic bullet for SAD, incorporating some Yang activities into your life can help. Remember, Yang is warm, bright, and active. Try to get outside during the middle of the day if possible, especially on sunny days. While you may not feel motivated, taking a walk, going to the gym, or cross country skiing are all good ways to stir up the warmth and activity of Yang. Also, activitiy in the form of change–trying something new–is a way to boost Yang. Choose activities that warm not only your body, but your heart as well. Time with friends or a special family event are both moving and warming activities.

Needless to say, Chinese medicine can offer some relief for SAD, too. Acupuncture, combined with heat therapy and some Yang fortifying foods and/or herbs can be an effective way to get through the winter.

Taming Stress With Chinese Medicine

By Lynn Jaffee, L.Ac.

My friend, Karla, seems to catch every illness that is going around. She recently had the intestinal flu that her kids caught a few weeks earlier. This was right after she had gotten over a nasty cold. Last week she was laid out with a headache that made it impossible for her to concentrate at work.

When I think about Karla, I realize that she is one of the most stressed women I know. She worries about her husband’s job, struggles to balance work and her kid’s after-school activities, and is the consummate volunteer. She is overwhelmed and on the go, and it makes perfect sense to me that she doesn’t feel well much of the time.

We know that stress makes us ill; because when we are stressed our bodies produce cortisol and other hormones that in overabundance can damage our health. In addition, prolonged stress keeps our bodies in a constant state of readiness, which is ultimately depleting.

Practitioners of Chinese medicine have a different explanation as to how stress makes us ill. According to the Chinese, energy flows in our body through a network of “roads”, like a highway system. Stress or anxiety can interrupt the smooth flow of energy throughout the body, acting like a traffic jam. For example, many people who are under a lot of stress complain of upper back, shoulder and neck pain. This is because stress is causing tension in those areas, blocking the free flow of energy, causing pain, tightness, and often leading to headaches.

In a highway system, when there is road construction or an accident, traffic may also be backed up on secondary roads that feed into or out of the affected area. This is true in the body, too. Stress may affect many other parts of the body, most notably digestion, the ability to sleep, pain conditions, and immunity. Stress can also aggravate an already troublesome health condition.

Through acupuncture, these energy blockages can be addressed. Acupuncture points serve as the on and off ramps to the energy highway, and can help energy flow smoothly, and alleviate not only the symptoms of stress, but the stress itself.

Beyond acupuncture, Chinese medicine offers other ways to alleviate stress and move energy including:

-Breathing–the breath is a source of energy in Chinese medicine, and slow, deliberate breathing can be very calming.

-Gentle exercise, such as Tai Qi or Qi Gung, which is a great way to cultivate and move energy. However very strenuous or prolonged exercise sessions are considered to be depleting.

-Good nutrition and digestion. The Chinese consider digestion to be as important as nutrition. They shy away from very cold foods or iced drinks, too many raw fruits and vegetables, and very greasy foods.

With my friend Karla in mind, I would also like to add that taking a little time each day for yourself can be a great way to break the stress cycle. Sometimes a few moments of quiet are all it takes.

Treating Insomnia with Acupuncture

By: Lynn Jaffee

What exactly is Insomnia?

Insomnia is the inability to get a full night of sleep. It can be an annoyance for most people at one time or another. For many, however, it’s a chronic problem that leaves its sufferers exhausted, irritable, and unable to handle the physical and emotional stresses of everyday life. An estimated 32 million Americans, or about 1 in 8, suffer from some form of insomnia.

Sleeplessness can come in many forms. For people with mild insomnia, dropping off to sleep may be a problem. Many sufferers are able to fall asleep, but wake during the night and spend the early morning hours wide awake, unable to get back to sleep. In the extreme, people who are plagued by severe insomnia may be sleepless all night long.

Is Insomnia treated differently in Traditional Chinese Medicine than in modern medicine?

Yes, within the framework of modern medicine, insomnia is usually treated through the use of prescription drugs, most often sedatives or tranquilizers. Unfortunately, while these drugs can promote sound sleep, they often produce side effects such as drowsiness, hangover, addictions and withdrawal. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, insomnia is considered an indicator of an underlying imbalance. Treatment is focused on correcting the imbalance, or the source of the problem, not just the outward symptoms.

What is out of balance?

In general, people who suffer from insomnia have a relative excess of Yang energy, which is active, warm and transformative. In contrast, Yin energy is quiet, cool, and nourishing. During the day, Yang energy predominates, keeping us awake and alert and giving us the energy to conduct the activities necessary for each day. As the day moves into evening, the Yang energy begins to decline, allowing us to relax and slow down. To be able to sleep, the Yang energy of the day must transform into the Yin energy of the evening and nighttime hours. In order to sleep well, the Yin and Yang energy of the body must be in balance. Insomnia occurs when Yin and Yang are out of balance.

How does Traditional Chinese Medicine Work to Treat Insomnia?

In order to determine the source of the imbalance causing insomnia, a practitioner will begin by taking your complete health history and interview. The practitioner will also look at your tongue and feel your wrist pulse to gain information about your condition. Based on your specific symptoms, constitution, and history, the practitioner will develop a treatment plan for you. The goals of your treatment plan will be to alleviate insomnia and correct the source of the problem, the underlying imbalance. A combination of acupuncture, Chinese herbs, dietary therapy, and lifestyle changes might be used.

Is acupuncture safe?

Yes. When performed by a Licensed Acupuncturist, acupuncture is safe. It is also a natural, drug-free, and effective way to address insomnia.

Treating Depression with Traditional Chinese Medicine

By: Lynn Jaffee

What exactly is depression?

All of us at one time or another experience feelings of sadness, anxiety, discouragement, or hopelessness. These feelings are a healthy response to events in our lives that may feel overwhelming. When we are balanced and healthy, we are able to recover from these periodic bouts. However, if we are unable to recover, these feelings may persist and interfere with our daily living, indicating that depression has set in.

Depression can present with a host of symptoms. Among them are low energy, a persistent sad or empty mood, lack of motivation, insomnia, appetite changes, irritability, suicidal thoughts, and body aches and pains.

How is depression treated differently in Traditional Chinese Medicine than in modern medicine?

Within the framework of modern medicine, depression is most frequently treated with antidepressant and anti-anxiety drugs. In fact, in 1998 doctors wrote more than 130 million prescriptions for antidepressants. Antidepressant drugs are effective in treating the signs and symptoms of depression. However, these drugs may cause a number of side effects, such as insomnia, fatigue, rash, loss of appetite, sexual dysfunction, and many more. As a result, many people taking these drugs want to avoid using them long term, and seek out other therapies.

Practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine have thousands of years of experience in treating depression. A person who is suffering from depression has an underlying imbalance in their body. Treatment is focused on correcting the imbalance, or the source of the problem, not just treating the outward symptoms.

What is out of balance?

Practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine know that there is a strong relationship between the body and emotions. When we are upset emotionally, our internal environment also becomes upset, causing symptoms such as depression.

Depression can result from an imbalance or a blockage of Qi (energy) in one of the body’s organs or meridian pathways (energy pathways). When Qi becomes blocked, it stagnates and is unable to properly nourish the body. The result can be disease and emotional disturbance. A number of things can cause Qi to become blocked, including physical or emotional trauma, constitutionally weak Qi, improper diet, and stress.

How is depression be treated with Traditional Chinese Medicine?

Your practitioner may use a variety of modalities. Depending on your specific imbalance, he/she may use acupuncture, Chinese herbs, dietary therapy, bodywork, and lifestyle changes. It is possible also to treat depression with modern medicine and Traditional Chinese medicine. In many cases it is the quickest way to treat depression.

Is acupuncture safe?

Yes. When performed by a Licensed Acupuncturist, acupuncture is safe. It is also a natural, drug-free, and effective way to address depression.

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