With the fast and demanding pace of life in the western world, anxiety can be unavoidable for most human beings. Depending upon family history, profession, and interpersonal relationships, many people have learned how to handle high levels of stress and anxiety on a daily basis. Still, there remains a significant portion of the population who struggle with how to function properly under pressure. Individual coping mechanisms often present further complications and side-effects, which can include self-medication with legal and illegal substances. Western Medicine has developed many strategies to help people cope with anxiety, psychotherapy being the most prevalent and successful modality. An alarming observation over the past few decades is that psychotropic medication prescriptions have grown exponentially.
Worldwide statistics show that a rapidly increasing percentage of every age group, from children to the elderly, rely heavily and routinely on these drugs in their daily lives. Global sales of antidepressants, stimulants, anti-anxiety and anti-psychotic drugs have reached more than $76 billion a year—more than double the annual US government budget spent on the war against drugs.
While we can attribute some of the uptick in medication prescriptions to the response of the modern lifestyle and stress, society must begin to look for more natural alternatives which resolve the root issue with minimal side effects. Traditional Chinese Medicine is that alternative; through its thousands of years of accumulated knowledge it can offer relief to those who suffer from anxiety in acute and chronic forms.
The reason I decided to focus on this subject as the first blog post was due to my own experiences dealing with anxiety. After spending most of my life working within the constraints of western psychotherapy, and for a short time taking medications, I began my personal quest to find a more holistic way of dealing with anxiety. It was by good fortune that a friend had introduced me to acupuncture, and after doing some research I quickly learned that my emotional struggles could be alleviated with the use of acupuncture needles, Chinese herbs and lifestyle changes. After receiving acupuncture treatments and taking Chinese herbs I saw first-hand how powerful and transformative Traditional Chinese Medicine is and how profoundly it affected my life. With this perspective, I understood that many people who shared a similar life experience could benefit from a more natural and well-rounded approach to dealing with the human spirit.
Anxiety and other emotional challenges can be extremely consuming and life altering. I was fortunate to have been introduced to eastern medicine which changed my life and finally gave me some peace of mind. Now it is my turn to help others like I was helped, I am here to help pay it forward and give back to those in need of assistance.
