.....and its treatment

Continued...

Conventional Treatment

Unipolar depression is one of the most treatable of the mental disorders. There are several prescription medications available to treat this condition. Given enough time and patience, it is usually possible to customize the treatment, get the right match, and achieve a good outcome.

The tools for treating depression can be divided into the somatic and the psychological.

Somatic treatments include:

Antidepressant medications (with significant side effects)

Light therapy

Psychotherapies for depression include:

Cognitive therapy

Behavioral therapy

Interpersonal therapy

Insight-oriented therapy

Drug toxicity, side effects & Interactions

Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCA’s)	Serotonin-Selective Re-Uptake Exhibitors (SSRI’s)
Serious Toxicity (lethality) in overdose	Common sexual side-effects
Potentially toxic when used in combination with SSRI’s	Common Glycemic Index side-effects
Affects serum levels of many other medications by affecting liver enzymes	Common sedation or insomnia side-effects
	Affects serum levels of other drugs through live enzymes

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Chinese medicine incorporates centuries of experience in dealing with depression. The first medical book, The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine, which was written 2300 years ago, contained theories on the origins of depression. In Chinese medicine, mental or emotional problems such as depression are attributed to an imbalance or blockage in one or more of the internal organs (Zang/Fu) and the energy pathways (meridians) that pertain to them. Some common patterns that can manifest as depression are Liver Qi Stagnation, Spleen Qi Deficiency, Kidney Essence Deficiency, or Lung and Heart meridian disorder. Generally, people begin by experiencing an imbalance in one organ or meridian.

Specifically speaking, the depressive and manic disorders results from mental over stimulation, such as excessive worry, over-thinking, anger and other emotional/psychological related causes, which may impair the function of the Heart in housing the Mind, and cause imbalance of Yin and Yang of the body.

A depressive mental disorder presents with stagnation of Qi and Phlegm in the Heart and Spleen, while a manic mental disorder presents with upward disturbance of Phlegm - Fire of the Heart and Liver. These two conditions may transform into each other, covering all types of psychosis which are ascribed different causes in Western medicine.

Both depressive and manic mental disorders are of the Excess type. The pathogenesis is stagnation of Qi and Phlegm-Fire. The principle of treatment for the former is to regulate Qi and resolve Phlegm, while that for the latter is to clear Fire and eliminate Phlegm. Herbs that soothe the Heart and calm the Mind should be added in both conditions.

Essentially all patients with depression exhibit signs and symptoms of liver deficiency no matter what other diseases are involved. The explanation is that the liver is the organ most strongly affected by emotions.

Untreated, or improperly treated, the disorder will spread, involving other organs and meridians. Chinese medical doctors emphasize early diagnosis and early preventive treatment of imbalances.

Traditional Chinese medicine tools: TCM, including acupuncture, is a safe and effective way to deal with depression. Acupuncture, herbal formulas, and other Chinese medical modalities have been used in China for over 5000 years, but have only recently become mainstream in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia in the last twenty-five years.

The people, who are looking for help with their depression, are typically those who have already tried everything else. Often they have tried seven or eight different anti-depressant prescriptions, with disappointing results (the lucky ones are those who knock at our door at first signs of depression). Either the drugs didn't work, or the side effects were too unpleasant, or they didn't want to take anti-depression drugs for the rest of their lives.

Almost every one of our patients feels that acupuncture has definitely improved their quality of life. A number of scientific studies also supply a great deal of evidence on how and why acupuncture can help depression. Clinical studies have shown that patients who received acupuncture treatments experienced significant reduction in depression symptoms.

After treatment, more than half no longer met the criteria for clinical depression. Statistically, that makes acupuncture just as effective as antidepressants. Studies also show that acupuncture can change the levels of many neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, that profoundly affect mental states.

Chinese herbal therapy: The Chinese herbal formula Mood Smooth (Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan) has been in use for six hundred years in China to deal with depression. The Chinese call this old remedy "the happy pill" because of its well-known anti-depressant effect. It is called by some practitioners "China's natural Prozac." It has been used by millions of people over the centuries, and it is especially popular with women.

Other common remedies for depression include Spleen tonic herbal formula Qi Spleen Tonic (Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan), Kidney nourishing herbal formula Kidney Yang Tonic (Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan), and many other remedies that are widely used with different patterns of depression. When you come to a Chinese medicine clinic, the practitioner will evaluate you first, and tell you what kind of imbalance and/or deficiency you have from the Chinese medicine point of view. Then he or she will decide what is the best herbal remedy for your depression.

Mood Smooth (Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan) Buplerum (Chai Hu), Mint (Bo He), Angelica (Dang Gui), Peony (Bai Shao), Atractylodes (Bai Zhu), Poria (Fu Ling), Licorice (Fu Ling), Ginger (Sheng Jiang), Peony Bark (Mu Dan Pi), Gardenia (Zhi Zi),

Kidney Yang Tonic (Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan) Aconite (Fu Zi), Cinnamon (Gui Zhi), Rehmannia (Shu Di Huang), Cornus (Shan Zhu Yu), Dioscorea (Shan Yao), Alisma (Ze Xie), Peony Bark (Mu Dan Pi), Poria (Fu Ling)

Medicated diet (diet-therapy): It is quite well known that certain vitamin or mineral deficiencies can play a very important part in depression, such as deficiencies in Zinc, Vitamin C, Folic Acid, Vitamin B-12, and Vitamin B-6. Because of the vital part that nutrition plays in our overall health, including mental health, dietary evaluation is another important part of Chinese medicine.

Chinese medicine practitioners will often ask patients to keep a three-to-five-day dietary intake record, in order to evaluate factors in the diet which can be contributing to depression. Certain foods such as daikon radish, sesame seeds, soybeans, and kelp are highly recommended for depression patients. Other foods such as coffee and alcohol should be avoided.

Chinese medicine works holistically. A good Chinese medicine practitioner will always give you a complete evaluation including what kind of deficiency or imbalance you have, which energy pathway is blocked, what foods to eat or avoid, and how these things relate to your mental health. We hope that anyone who feels the need of it will benefit from this natural and safe medicine.

Rate of success of using TCM for depression is between 87.5% (total amelioration) and 94.4% (marked improvement), but the treatments take sometimes weeks or months.

Previous Page

Sources

http://holisticonline.com/Remedies/Depression/dep_treatment_options.htm
http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic532.htm
http://dontatro.bryce-alive.net/psychopics.htm
http://www.tcmpage.com
Chinese Medicine Psychiatry, by Bob Flaws & James Lake, MD ISBN 1-845891-17-9
Clinical Manual of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture, by Zhou Zhong Ying & Jin Hui De , ISBN 0-443-05128-3

Revision 2.00 - January 6, 2007