Why, Oh Why, Anxiety?
Your heart races, your palms sweat, you have trouble breathing….why does this keep happening? Is this anxiety? Is it a heart attack? Am I imagining this? What can I do?!
Anxiety and panic disorders are a very real thing and very common for many people in our modern world. Rates of anxiety are increasing, particularly in teenagers and even young children. What is the cause of this epidemic of anxiety?
What Causes Anxiety?
Being alert and aware of our surroundings is normal and natural for humans until we stay in a continuous state of heightened awareness. Excessive worry over uncontrollable events puts your mind on a roller coaster of fear and emotional instability. When we overthink or try to solve a problem before it even exists, we find ourselves in a perpetual state of anxiety. This anxiety is the result of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol flooding your brain, released from the adrenal glands and kidneys. A constant state of anxiety means these hormones continuously pour into your body and your sympathetic nervous system can’t get a break to calm down.
Fearful memories with accompanying images that we cannot resolve or let go of induce anxiety and create the next frightening scenario. Does this stem from our constant exposure to images on our screens throughout our day? All of the organs have an outlet in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The eyes are the outlet for the liver. The liver is an organ full of blood and in charge of moving qi (energy), and blood and the eyes take a lot of blood to work properly. If we are bombarded by anxiety-inducing images, or imagine with our mind’s eye these negative scenarios, does it affect our eyes, which in turn are affected by the liver, the master of all emotions? These images that belong to our memory are part of the kidney, which also influences the brain. The kidneys, like the liver, are full of qi-enhancing blood. Blood is synonymous with qi, which activates blood and grants it life-giving qualities. Is blood then the key to figuring out anxiety? In Chinese medicine the blood is responsible for a great deal more than it is thought to be in western medicine.
Even positive images can give us anxiety when we are not grounded in ourselves. We see images of things we would like to be or have, and we become conditioned to want whatever image is engaging for us.
We are often advised to “put down our phones” or “limit screen time”, but less advice is shared on solving the physiological issue associated with anxiety beyond medicating it away with anti-anxiety drugs. There are alternatives to managing and even overcoming anxiety. Acupuncture has been effectively applied for centuries to help with fear, stress, and anxiety.
Anxiety and Your Internal Organs
In TCM, anxiety is attributed to a weakened digestive system, namely the spleen and the stomach. The spleen and stomach are where your qi is made. Some qi comes from our parents, but after we are born it comes from food and digestion. When your qi is off, the yin and the yang of your body are out of balance. This means the flow of nature within your systems is not following the correct path. You would normally eat, digest and eliminate without giving these processes a second thought. When the yin and yang are out of balance from too much stress, too much work, overthinking, poor nutrition, or too much alcohol and drugs, your system becomes out of balance, resulting in dysfunctional stomach and spleen activity and negatively affecting all of the organ systems.
The heart, the kidneys and the liver are also involved in anxiety. The liver handles all of our emotions and the free flow of qi, while the heart and kidneys are responsible for emotional joy, shock and fear. By tonifying the spleen and stomach and soothing the nervous system we can start the process of calming the overactive mind. Treatment with acupuncture releases endorphins which help to create a general sense of well-being.
Acupuncture vs. Anxiety
Another mood-related chemical, serotonin, is found mostly in the stomach or “gut”. To stimulate your body into releasing this “feel-good chemical”, antidepressants are often prescribed. Acupuncture takes a more direct approach. Placing needles at the powerful stomach 36 and spleen 6 points will stimulate and help regulate the digestive system to reduce stress.
Proper functioning of your vagus nerve is also essential for stomach health and affects the anxiety-liver connection. Scalp acupuncture works directly with the vagus nerve and is very successful in calming anxiety as well as treating depression.
In my clinic I frequently treat patients suffering from anxiety. Anxiety relieving points that are highly effective include
These points engage the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing it to produce resting and relaxing feelings in our body and mind following a stressful situation.
Are you experiencing high rates of anxiety and stress? We can help at the Acupuncture by Andrea offices. Contact us for a free consultation and find out how acupuncture can treat your anxiety, stress, and depression.