Depression And Acupuncture

Depression affects 3/4 of the British population at some point in their lives. Despite over 31 million prescriptions for anti-depressants being handed out by GPs every year in the UK over 1/3 of people choose not to seek help. This could be due to stigma, embarrassment or a feeling that they can make themselves better. Luiza Sauma, a Brazilian journalist has written a thought provoking article on depression for the Guardian, exploring why the depressed do not access help. She believes that anti-depressants and therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), now available on the NHS, are a short-term solution only for depression. She questions why longer term therapies such as psychotherapy are not more readily available.

Acupuncture is another treatment that can be successful in treating depression and its symptoms. Because it seeks to get to the core of the issue and to encourage the body to heal itself, it offers a long term alleviation of symptoms. People who have seen me for help with depression have often commented  “I feel like myself again”. Rather than just papering over the cracks, acupuncture allows our own healing response to be stimulated and restores us to a point of balance. If we are in balance we are not feeling depressed. It is appropriate to feel sad, angry or low occasionally and in response to particular circumstances but we know when this slips over into depression or anxiety and when we feel that we have lost perspective or a part of ourselves.

Here’s what Catherine had to say about her acupuncture:

“I came across Caitlin after I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety by my GP. I was prescribed anti-depressants and while I was relieved to find out I wasn’t actually going mad as I had suspected, and that there was a genuine reason for the way I’d been feeling for over 12 months, I was adamant that there must be an alternative solution rather than taking prescribed medication.

On my first visit to Caitlin I didn’t know what to expect. Caitlin immediately put me at ease and spoke to me about how I’d been feeling along with my health and lifestyle in general. To this day I still don’t know how I didn’t just break down into tears; it took every ounce of courage to keep my composure in order to explain exactly how I felt.
I didn’t know what to expect after the first session but felt I knew I’d found someone who could really help and make a difference to my life. Since then I’ve had weekly sessions and I can honestly say I have to credit Caitlin with making me feel like ‘me’ again, something I thought would never happen. I don’t wake up every morning dreading what the day will bring nor do I wake up and wish that I hadn’t, which I think had to be the worst thing about how I had been feeling. I don’t feel like I’m living in a fog and I can rationalise my feelings far better than I ever thought possible.”