Depression

Heal Depression Naturally with Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine

Healing from depressionDepression hits home for me.  For 11 years I suffered under the crushing weight of life sucking depression.  The world was dark and gloomy.  I had no energy to do anything and dreaded facing each day.  I felt that no hope existed to change my situation.  It led me to the brink of suicide because the pain was so great on the inside and life didn’t seem worth living.  I never found any relief from diet, antidepressant and thyroid medications, exercise, supplementation, therapy and reading hundreds of books.   I finally learned that the key to me healing was inside of me the entire time, cost no money and involved a very simple process.  This is why I believe for many that emotion is both the cause and cure of depression.  This process is easy to learn and can powerfully help you too.  But first, let’s gain a bird’s eye view about how to understand all facets of depression, physically, energetically and emotionally.

Have you tried everything and nothing has worked?

Over 39 million people in the USA have taken medication for depression in the last year.  This is more than 15% of the entire population.  Depression is a huge problem that directly or indirectly affects us all. While many people are searching mostly for solutions in the physical world (diet, supplements, exercise), I have become convinced that negative emotion is by far the heaviest contributor as to why people suffer with this.  The history of Chinese medicine also would confirm this.  It is very important that people understand that there are Five Levels of Healing in the Body.  While the physical aspects of depression are important, must be discussed and are critical for many to heal, I urge you to be opened minded in hearing the rest of the story.

What is Depression?

The following symptoms define what is characteristic of this disorder.  Not all need to apply in order to be diagnosed as depressed.

  • Feeling sad or having a depressed mood
  • Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
  • Changes in appetite — weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting
  • Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
  • Loss of energy or increased fatigue
  • Increase in purposeless physical activity (e.g., hand-wringing or pacing) or slowed movements and speech (actions observable by others)
  • Feeling worthless or guilty
  • Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions
  • Thoughts of death or suicide

Closely associated with depression can be thyroid issues such as hypothyroidism, so it is worth it to visit your medical doctor, get your blood testing and rule this out.  However, even the thyroid can be healed naturally as well.  I once was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and was able to heal naturally.

The most common form of treatment in the world today is anti-depressant drugs.  Ironically, one of the side effects of taking some anti-depressant drugs is increased risk of suicide.  When you start messing with brain chemicals rather than correcting the root cause of the problem, some very adverse reactions can occur.

Physical Healing of Depression

Many times, people will reach for a drug in the hopes that this will be the magic bullet that will take all their blues away.  Anti-depressant drugs do help a lot of people in the short run to feel better and this is needed for many people when they don’t feel like they have other options.  But it needs to be said that depression is ultimately NOT a brain chemical balance as we have been led to believe.  Therefore, a physical drug will never be able to help with the root cause of depression – negative emotion.  It may help for a while, and we may feel better but in the long run it is not the answer.  On the physical level, very specific things must be addressed in order to heal.

  1. A thorough assessment of the diet must be checked.
  2. Heavy metals and chemicals often are a factor that must be removed in order to heal.
  3. Certain foods must be avoided in order to heal.  We go over all of these during the orientation.
  4. Detoxification.  Many cases of depression respond very well to a very specific and targeted detoxification that is easy to implement.
  5. Whole food supplements are used to give the body the proper nutrition it may have been lacking for a long time.

In the clinic, Nutrition Response Testing is used to determine what the weakest parts of your physical body are (organ, glands or other parts), heavy metal and chemical toxicity, food sensitivities, pathogens and what supplements can most effectively help to correct these issues.  It is a remarkable tool that really is able to pinpoint what is best for you in terms of supplements.

The Chinese have been using herbs and formulas for thousands of years to help heal the physical body and I have seen many of these formulas work wonders for people with depression.  A Chinese herbal formula may prove effect on the physical level when other things have not worked.

Chinese food therapy 

From a Chinese perspective, the main pattern which drives much of depression is what we call Liver Qi Stagnation or other patterns affecting the liver.  The liver is in charge of making sure that everything is flowing around the body properly.  When the liver stagnates (for many reasons), the expression of this can lead to depression.  Food can play a wonderful role in alleviating this stagnation.

Bitter foods reduce excesses in the Liver.  They should be used until stagnation balances and then reduced.  These bitter foods include:

Rye, Amaranth, Quinoa, Citrus Peel, Romaine Lettuce, Asparagus, Alfalfa, Chamomile Tea

Foods that stimulate the Liver out of stagnancy include:

Onions, Garlic, Leeks, Scallions, Chives, Watercress, Mustard Greens, Ginger, Black Pepper, Horseradish, Turmeric, Basil, Bay leaf, Marjoram, Cumin, Fennel, Dill, Rosemary, Mint, Lemon Balm

Energetic or Electrical Healing of Depression

Many people have turned to acupuncture and have found it to be extremely effective for relieving the symptoms associated with depression. Acupuncture affects the 2nd and 1st levels of the body and can bring about powerful healing.  The acupuncture system is essentially a system of electrical circuits in the body that flow between connective tissue divides.  It works in tandem with the nervous system, which also communicates with the rest of the body through electrical signals.

Acupuncture is not some weird qi thing.  It is electricity.  When power is conducting better or is returned to a part of the body, oxygen saturates that area, blood flow is better and powerful pain killing brain chemicals come to that part of the body to balance things out.  All connective tissue, which composes much of the body, is piezo-electric.  This means that is a fantastic generator and conductor of electricity.  If you are suffering from depression, an acupuncturist will know how to balance your electrical flow out and get you feeling better.  When the electricity is flowing better or is turned on in certain areas of the body, you can start healing on deeper levels.

Emotional or Consciousness Healing of Depression

With depression, this is the most important area of healing that is the most largely neglected.  When people come into the clinic, and when getting into this area of healing, the question is asked, “What are you angry about?  When the depression started, what was the event that you went through that made you angry on the inside? What are the things that have made you the angriest in your life?” In Chinese medicine, the organ that is affected the most by depression is the liver.  The main pathological emotion of the liver is anger.  Anger has a tendency to cause the liver to not do its job correctly.

Anger almost always is a reactionary emotion though.  It can be difficult to detect, but normally there is a fear that is sitting behind the anger.  The anger is simply a response to the underlying fear.  This is the reason why anxiety and depression are so closely linked.  Another way to describe this would be the fear/anger disorder.  It could be fear of being abandoned, worthless, threatened, stupid, made fun of, embarrassed, not good enough, insignificant, powerless, not in control or many other fears.  Other factors are at play in depression as well.  Below are some of the general consciousness issues related to why depression may manifest in the body.

Depression—Pressure to survive. Feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, disappointed, and disillusioned. Wanting someone to save you. Suppressed anger and resentment. Feeling and acting like a victim. Blaming others for what is not working in your life. Feeling unmotivated and uninspired. Can’t be bothered to do anything. Stuck in an old story that’s only getting gloomier. (Inna Segal – The Secret Language of your Body).

Ask yourself if these apply to you; some may, some may not.  All of these things above are emotional states in the body and they can be let go of.  We tend to overly identify with our thoughts and emotions as “ours”.  They are not you.   If a pencil being held in your hand were synonymous with “your” emotions, we would be squeezing the pencil with all our might as if the pencil was a part of us.  But we can open our hand and let it go.  You can do the same with you negative emotions.  They are not you.  When you let go of the negative feelings that you are experiencing, you instantly begin to feel the essence of what you already are: Love, Joy and Peace.  These emotions or rather, states of being, are the most powerful healing emotions that exist.  When you begin to love yourself, your whole world shifts and changes.

The best ways to let these go are with consciousness based healing techniques.  They are easy to learn and can help people to let go of emotion in a very powerful way.  When I let go of the emotions in two memories I had, one at the age of 21 and another at the age of 4, my depression disappeared from one day to the next.  The cloud lifted, the pain was gone.  This can be your story as well if you choose to let go on a very deep level.

Summary

If you are depressed, the basics of healthy physical living must be a part of your life.  Eating lots of vegetables, consuming good sources of fat, exercising, and not consuming certain foods can go a long way in helping you feel better. Acupuncture has a proven track record of helping people to feel much better when depressed.  The real work of depression lies in letting go of the various expressions and memories in your world where anger and fear are involved.  These tend to get to the root and once they are let go of, you can be free.  You don’t need to be here locally in the Orlando, Florida area to schedule an appointment.  Phone appointments are just as effective as being here in person.  Call Dr. Scott at 407-255-0314 to schedule your appointment now and start feeling better today.

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About Dr. Scott

Dr. Scott Graves, AP is a Board Licensed Acupuncture Physician who specializes in Naturopathic Medicine, Chinese Medicine, Nutrition Response Testing, General Health and more.