If you are suffering from mild to extreme depression, acupuncture and counsel therapy can be ideal answers for your problem. The PLOS ONE, which is an online journal, recently posted a study showing how acupuncture can be at least as effective as counseling in the symptomatic treatment of depression. Acupuncture specifically is responsible for reducing by almost 50% depression symptoms within just three months. The University of York in the U.K. researchers led by Hugh MacPherson did an evaluation study of 755 patients suffering from moderate to severe depression to come up with this conclusion.

Reuters News reported the patients were divided into three groups. One group with 302 patients received 12 acupuncture sessions each week, another group with also 302 patients were treated to 12 counseling sessions each week while the remaining 151 patients were given conventional standard care, which meant taking drugs such as antidepressants.

Sixteen was the average depression score among all patients which on a scale from 0 to 27, with 27 signifying extremely severe depression when the study began. Sixteen was classified as moderately severe depression. After three months, the acupuncture group scored an average of nine from an average of 16, which was seen as a high end of the mild depression classification. In the counseling group, the average score was 11 while the average score of the conventional care group fell to only 13.

Far impressive was the fact that the benefits gained by both the counseling and acupuncture groups lasted for three more months after the end of the study.

MacPherson recommended counseling or acupuncture for persons with depression who are still not getting the benefit they needed after trying different medical options. Both acupuncture and counseling are proven to be clinically effective.

More and more studies are showing that acupuncture can be indeed a very good alternative to psychiatric drugs. However, the above mentioned study has certain limitations since about 70% of the participants took antidepressants three months prior to the start of the study and that some of them even continued taking their own meds during the course of the study. Nevertheless, the outcomes validated the idea that besides drugs, other treatments can be as just effective for treating depression and what’s more, do not have the negative side effects that drugs have.

Emily Farish Acupuncture
400 S. Jefferson, Suite 203
Spokane, WA 99204
Phone: 509-217-9262
emilyfarishacupuncture.com