Acupuncture for stress and anxiety

How acupuncture works

Acupuncture has been shown to regulate the nervous system, and improve the body’s ability to cope with stress. Acupuncture has also been shown to increase the release of endorphins, the body’s feel-good chemicals, which play an important role in the regulation of physical and emotional stress responses such as pain, heart rate, blood pressure and digestive function.
 
When the body is under stress, an area of the brain called the hypothalamus releases neuro-chemicals, and research shows that acupuncture can calm this response.
 
Research into acupuncture for anxiety
 
According to the evidence, acupuncture is an effective treatment for anxiety. A review conducted in 2016 with over 400 randomised patients that concluded that ‘the effects from acupuncture for treating anxiety have been shown to be significant as compared to conventional treatments.’ The largest of the studies included 120 randomized patients and found that acupuncture had a large effect on reducing anxiety and depression compared to conventional treatment involving medication and psychotherapy, with over twice the reduction in symptoms.

A more recent systematic review published in 2018 found that all 13 included studies ‘reported an anxiety decrease for their treatment group relative to the control groups.’