Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD often develops as a result of traumatic event(s), yet the symptoms may not manifest until months or years later. The most commonly reported symptoms of PTSD are anxiety, depression, anger, insomnia, nightmares, hopelessness, inability to concentrate, hyper-vigilance, and panic attacks, etc. These symptoms may come and go over many years. But if they persist, they can cause significant impairment in persons’ social relationship, cognitive functions, and occupational fitness.
PTSD is usually treated with medicines called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), which belongs to a class of antidepressant drugs. The effects of SSRI treatment usually take a few weeks to reach its desired potential. At the same time, it also causes negative side effects, such as nausea, dizziness, headache, insomnia, weight loss/gain, confusion, etc. Abrupt termination of SSRI can also cause withdrawal syndromes that may be similar to a reoccurrence of the original illness.
Because of these problems of SSRI, more and more patients are looking for alternatives to avoid long-term medications. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine have been recognized as safe and effective treatments for PTSD because it can alleviate the key symptoms of PTSD, especially depression, anxiety, and insomnia, without causing those unwanted side effects.
In our clinic, we treat PTSD patients with scalp acupuncture. These patients often experience deep relaxation and calmness during and/or after the treatment. Continuous improvements are also noticed by patients’ family members after a few sessions of treatments.