Home » Mind & Soul » Depression » Acupuncture for Depression - Page 2

Acupuncture for Depression - Page 2

© John McManamy

In 1996, the FDA approved acupuncture needles for use by licensed practitioners. Needles are either new or sterilized. Relatively few complications have been reported to the FDA, but bad results can happen from improper sterilization of needles and improper treatments. The needles are hair thin and don't cause the kind of pain associated with hollow hypodermic needles.

Fine, but does acupuncture work for depression?

In 1998, the NIH's Office of Alternative Medicine funded a study at the University of Arizona. Working with acupuncturist Rosa Schnyer, John Allen PhD devised a 16-week trial on 34 seriously depressed women. First the two worked up a standard treatment plan that targeted certain "depression points" on the body. Then they devised a dummy treatment calling for needles in nonspecific places. The acupuncturists administering the treatment had no idea whether they were using the real plan or the dummy plan.

Then the subjects were divided into three groups. The first group received the depression-specific acupuncture, the second group got the dummy treatment, and the third group was put on a wait list before being placed on eight weeks of the real thing.

Following the treatment, the depression-specific groups experienced a 43 percent reduction in their symptoms compared with a 22 percent reduction for the dummy group. More than half no longer met the criteria for clinical depression. Only five people dropped out of the study - two who moved away, one who became pregnant, and two who didn't like the needles. The dropout rate was much lower than for studies using medications.

Two advantages of acupuncture, Dr Allen told a seminar at the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association Conference in Boston, include no language barrier (a factor for patients who have difficulty speaking English), and its low cost compared to conventional treatment.

Something better than low cost was an inducement for Karen. She was able to swap free sessions by giving piano lessons to the acupuncturist's son. On the advice of Dr Chen, her acupuncturist, she did not quit her medication. She began the treatment in May - never going more than once a week - and gradually, she says, she began to recover. "For a few days I felt a little better," she recounts, "then after that I felt bad days. But the better days got better oh so gradually and the bad days less bad."

Karen would lie on a table as Dr Chen put some needles into her ear, arm, and leg - always on the right side (except for a few needles in the other leg). One time he put the needles in similar areas on the left side. He would also point a heat lamp where he left needles in the leg. The needles prick, according to Karen, "just the littlest bit." Then she would remain on the table while Dr Chen left the room for 20 minutes. Finally, Dr Chen would take out the needles and rub some areas of the back and neck.

The copyright of the article Acupuncture for Depression - Page 2 in Depression is owned by John McManamy. Permission to republish Acupuncture for Depression - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.