Depression - The Silent Killer!

Just last month in early May I was lucky enough to be an invited speaker for the Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association conference (AACMAC) in Brisbane, Australia. I had two presentations - one on depression (this one) and one on point combinations (I will post that presentation in coming weeks).

Because of the controversy that my previous post generated I felt this was the obvious next post. The PDF for the presentation can be found on the slideshare link below:

https://www.slideshare.net/DieselDave8/depression-2017

There are 87 slides and, where relevant, I will add some extra content below. This is specifically a post on how acupuncture can treat depression. It doesn't go into detail in any other areas such as Western treatments and I don't philosophise. I hope you enjoy the read:

Slide 2 - it is vitally important to adhere to this advice. You might think you can help someone with depression by treating them quickly and aggressively but you seriously need to think long and hard about this. The last thing you want is to build their energy too quickly and they suddenly have the energy to follow through with their suicidal thoughts/threats. Slow and steady is the best approach when treating depression – in my humble view anyway.

Slide 12 – in case you knew the Wu Shen by a different name, these are the Five Spirits, namely Hun, Shen, Yi, Po, and Zhi. Each of these is discussed in a little more detail throughout the remainder of the slides.

Slide 19 – is the first time I have highlighted a sentence. This will continue to occur throughout the rest of the presentation. They aren’t necessarily statements that are more important than the rest of the content. I tend to highlight components of my presentations to remind me of what to target when I am speaking. This is especially the case when I have a lot of slides and minimal time to get the information across to the participants.

Slide 36 – Kidney depression can also be the diagnosis if there is a family/ancestral history of depression. This is typically diagnosed as Kidney Jing Xu. Alternatively, you might consider it a Chong Mai issue (see slides 46-47).

Slide 69 – when determining which of the Sun Si Miao Ghost Points to use I have two strategies. One is using a point locator machine and the other is using Tui Na.

Point locators are fickle things (typically). The trick with them is to get the setting/frequency right for your patient at that exact moment in time. My point locator has a dial with 1-10 on it. I move the dial to find the right frequency. To do this I find a point that isn’t too active (avoid hands and feet) such as Qu Chi (LI 11) and then I turn the dial. I want to establish a baseline which is the midpoint between the machine squealing at me when I barely touch the skin, and the locator making no noise at all no matter how hard I press it onto the point. Once I have my baseline for Qu Chi (LI 11) I take my point locator to other areas of the body and see if the baseline holds at other points and other areas. I may have to tweak it ever so slightly but I usually get my baseline. I then write the baseline number onto the patient file in case I want to do the process again in coming treatments (it is worth noting that it’s almost never the same number again, but it is often fairly close; It just helps speed up the process next time, and also makes for an interesting clinical research experiment).

So I now have my baseline and the next step is to visit each of the Sun Si Miao Ghost Points one after the other (I draw up a table). I am looking for three things:

1)      The point locator making the expected baseline noise. I put a dash next to the point because they are balanced.

2)      The point locator making a very high pitched squealing noise. I put a tick next to the point because they are Shi (excess).

3)      The point locator making minimal/no noise. I put a cross next to the point because they are Xu (deficient).

If I have diagnosed my patient as Xu then I needle all the points with a cross next to them. Alternatively, if they were diagnosed as Shi then I needle all the points with the tick next to them. If the patient has been diagnosed as Shi on Xu, then I make a judgement call as to the best points to use based on what I believe is best for them at that moment in time.

Tui Na can also be a bit tricky for Sun Si Miao Ghost Points. Establishing a baseline with painful pressure is problematic when points are located over so many varied body parts, not all of them in nice bulky muscles. Regardless, this is still key if you plan to use Tui Na as your method to establish which points you need to use.

Therefore, similar to the point locator, establish a baseline by getting a ‘hurts good’ pain response on a point. Qu Chi (LI 11) works well again for this. ‘Hurts Good’ pain is the most amount of pain that a patient can tolerate before they complain that you are pressing too hard. Once you have your baseline from Qu Chi (LI 11) then press a variety of different spots around the body to confirm your baseline.

Then you do exactly the same thing as you would with the point locator. I draw a table and then look for three things when I press each of the points:

1)      Tui Na establishes the expected baseline of ‘Hurts Good’. I put a dash next to the point because they are balanced.

2)      Tui Na elicits a distinct pain response from the patient. I put a tick next to the point because they are Shi (excess).

3)      Tui Na elicits minimal/no pain response from the patient. They comment that they can barely feel you pressing the point. I put a cross next to the point because they are Xu (deficient).

If I have diagnosed my patient as Xu then I needle all the points with a cross next to them. Alternatively, if they were diagnosed as Shi then I needle all the points with the tick next to them. If the patient has been diagnosed as Shi on Xu, then I make a judgement call as to the best points to use based on what I believe is best for them at that moment in time.

Slide 75 – while she was asleep that night she dreamt of her demon. Typically whenever she dreamt of her demon (day or night) she would have a panic attack or suffer significant anxiety. This time however she didn’t feel either of these. Further, she was actually dreaming about being back in her childhood house, which would typically produce its own anxiety, phobias and depression, but this didn’t happen either.

So she was in her scary house and she wasn’t scared. She knew her demon was in the house and she wasn’t scared. She normally would have run screaming from the house but instead she went looking for the demon. She heard it coming from her old bedroom. She opened the door to the bedroom without fear. The demon didn’t jump out at her. She looked around the room and heard that it was in the cupboard. She walked up to the cupboard without any concern and when she opened the door the demon launched itself at her. This was the first time she had ever seen the demon in all her years of life. It had always been more an opaque entity. The demon had razor sharp teeth and fur all over its short body. When the demon lunged at her she still wasn’t scared. It knocked her onto her back and started biting everything it could get to. But the bites felt like someone banging a pillow against her skin. So she casually grabbed at the demon around the neck and picked it up. Finding a conveniently located bag in the corner of the room she stuffed the demon into it and then zipped it up (the bag, not the demon). She then planned to walk to the nearest church and drop it at the front steps but she woke up before she got there.

Personally I think that it was good for her to have woken before getting the demon to the church. In a sense it would have been offloading responsibility if she left it at the church. She needed to have done it all herself, which is what ultimately happened when she woke. To date she hasn’t had her demon back and it’s been nearly 9 months. That is the longest she has ever gone without it being in her life. She also doesn’t actually feel like it will come back so she is living her life without the fear, anxiety, depression and anger that it used to instil in her.

There is plenty more I could analyse but I think that's enough. If you have any questions about any of the slides please let me know.

Love and light to you all

David Hartmann