Suffering from Stress And Anxiety? Natural Stress Relief with Acupuncture

Natural Stress Relief

Mental Health

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It impacts the way we think, feel, and act. Mental health is important during every stage of life, from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. It affects how we handle stress, communicate with others, and make daily choices that affect our lives and others.

Stress, Anxiety and Mental Health:

Stress is a common and normal feeling that occurs daily. Stress can be emotional or physical and typically results from an event that makes you feel frustrated, angry or nervous. There are two main types of stress.

Acute Stress: Acute stress can be thought of as a short-term stress and goes away quickly. Acute stress is also referred to as our fight or flight response. When a threat occurs your brain signals hormones to be released and physical effects such as increased heart rate, blood pressure, shaking, slowed digestion and dry mouth can occur. The threat doesn't have to be a threating situation such as a moose charging you, another example(s) would be avoiding danger or meeting a deadline. Everyone has acute stress at some time or another.

Chronic Stress: Chronic stress occurs when stress affects the individual for a longer period of time. This can go on for weeks, months or even years. Commonly individuals suffering from chronic stress don't even realize it's a problem. This is due to the fact that it has become normal. If the individual doesn't find a method of effective stress management, it may lead to health problems.

Anxiety:

Anxiety: Occasional anxiety is normal. Anxiety is our body's natural response to stress. The first day at school, giving a speech in front of a crowd or a "big" job interview often make an individual feel nervous and fearful. On the other hand, if an individual is having frequent, intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear the individual may be suffering from an anxiety disorder. While the exact cause of anxiety is unknown, it's likely a combination of factors. These factors include genetic, environmental, and brain chemistry.

While stress can cause anxiety, anxiety can occur without a stressful situation.

Stress and Health: Prolonged stress leads to hyper physiological levels of cortisol. This alters the effectiveness of cortisol to regulate the inflammatory and immune response because of decreased tissue sensitivity to cortisol (Segerstrom, 2006). Stressed individuals immune cells become less sensitive to cortisol. When an individual is unable to regulate the inflammatory response, and exposed to a virus, they are more likely to develop a cold (Cohen, 2004). Chronic stress causes disruptions to homeostasis and leads to various diseases such as heart disease, weight gain, memory and concentration impairment, headaches, and digestive problems.

Acupuncture for Stress - Beverly MA

Acupuncture treatment is commonly used to provide stress relief, reduce anxiety and depression that can negatively impact mental health and wellness. Research shows that higher levels of stress predispose individuals to anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions. Stress, anxiety, and depression have been shown to lower overall quality of life. Acupuncture points are utilized in a specific manner for each patient depending on how stress manifests in their life. Whether stress manifests as palpitations, high blood pressure, fatigue, or insomnia, acupuncture treatment is effective at restoring your mental health back to balance! During an acupuncture treatment, patients become more relaxed during treatment and throughout daily life. Increased relaxation is a result of acupuncture decreasing sympathetic nervous system activity (fight or flight response). Acupuncture works to regulate the body’s chemical balance naturally, and even slows the body's production of stress hormones.

Mindfulness:

Mindfulness is the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something. Mindfulness suggests that the mind is fully attending to what is happening, to what you're doing, to the space you're moving through. Mindfulness is type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what is occurring. Practicing mindfulness can involve breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices that relax the body and mind and help reduce stress. Mindfulness exercises can be practiced anywhere or anytime. For instance, you don't have mediate to be mindful. Instead, let's try to be mindful of where your body is holding stress. To do this practice performing a body scan or in other words locate where you feel tension within your body. For many, stress is stored in the upper neck and shoulders. Being conscious and aware of where you hold stress can be helpful in reducing stress and symptoms associated with it. It is best to take a few minutes everyday to enjoy your mindful practices. Paying attention to the present moment and taking time for yourself can do wonders for your health care!

About Our Acupuncture Clinic:

North Shore Acupuncture and Natural Medicine is an acupuncture clinic in Beverly, MA. We utilize acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and natural medicine restore optimal health and wellness. Employing traditional and modern approaches to enhance your health and longevity.

References:

Cohen, S., (2004) 5 Studies of behavior, biology, and the common cold: A data repository. The Common Cold Project. Retrieved from: https://www.cmu.edu/common-cold-project/

Segerstrom, S., Miller, G., (2006) Psychological stress and the human immune system: A meta-analytic study of 30 years inquiry. Psychological Bulletin, 130(4), 601-630. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361287/