Abstract
There are many psychological disorders and most of them could benefit from acupuncture. This chapter will focus on some commonly seen psychological disorders, namely post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia and substance abuse.
PTSD is often induced by distressing traumatic events, especially life-threatening events such as war, terrorist attacks, natural calamities, etc. The two main types of traditional treatments of PTSD are pharmacological therapy and/or psychotherapy. Insomnia is one of the most common diseases in modern society, and can cause a series of physical and emotional problems. Substance abuse and substance use disorders (SUDs) have become a significant public health problem worldwide.
Acupuncture is widely used in the treatment of mental disorders, such as stress, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, schizophrenia and sleep disorders, among others. There are an increasing number of studies indicating that acupuncture may reduce the severity of PTSD and related symptoms, significant effect on insomnia, and can play an important role in dealing with the opioid epidemic.
Brain acupuncture theory and techniques are uniquely beneficial for the above-mentioned psychological disorders. Clinical practice may choose scalp acupuncture and Dao-qi techniques on Du Mai and Ren Mai points, which will be explained in detail.
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Wang, T. (2021). Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Insomnia and Substance Abuse. In: Acupuncture for Brain. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54666-3_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54666-3_18
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