Acupuncture can help reduce the symptoms of stress, improve sleep and bring about a sense of calmness and well being

Stress in an increasingly pervasive problem in our modern hectic lifestyles. It is a well recognized cause of disease and for many people really impacts on feelings of well being even in its milder forms.

Chinese Medicine recognizes ‘stress’ in a more specific way and how it affects various organ systems. Different people experience different emotions in different ways. For some people, stress means feeling frustrated or angry, for some it is experienced as anxiety or worry, for some fear or dread. All these emotions effect and are affected by different organ systems.

Frustration and anger, for example, are most related to the Liver and Gall Bladder systems and would often be treated using acupuncture points on these meridians. Worry on the other hand probably related more to the energy of the Spleen and would thus be treated quite differently. The associated signs and symptoms might also be quite different. Our ‘Liver-type’ stress in the example will often manifest with neck tension, headaches and insomnia, whereas our Spleen example might experience digestive disturbances, feelings of bodily heaviness or low energy.

It is therefore very important in acupuncture treatment and diagnosis to find out what meridians and organ systems need most support and treat accordingly rather than approaching ‘stress’ in a generic way.