Case Study – Miriam is a 15-year-old girl that came to me as she was having anxiety issues prior to her Junior Cert. She complained several times of severe abdominal pain that was worst in the morning and never present at night. She had missed about 10 days of school during the previous year because of the pain. She also had difficulty falling asleep. All of this became more pronounced prior to her exams
Miriam’s symptoms include worrying, requests for reassurance, ‘what if.’ Questions. Common symptoms involving behaviours include avoiding feared situations, tantrums when faced with fear, ‘freezing’ in feared situations. Common symptoms included panic attacks, hyperventilation, stomach-aches, headaches, insomnia and a little bit of psoriasis on her neck and scalp.
Miriam attended my clinic twice a week for 2 weeks and once a week for 4 weeks, she now comes approx once a month and is feeling much better about herself, more relaxed and sleeping better.
For most people, anxiety and adolescence go hand in hand. Adolescence is a time of change, bodily change, mental change, changing relationships with friends and parents, changing goals, interests, hopes and dreams and accompanying all of these changes is a huge potential for anxiety.
In my experience Acupuncture/Herbs work very well in helping Anxiety with Teenagers, below are the following that I help treat on a daily basis with teenagers
Anxiety: In my clinic this is number one! If there is Anxiety for whatever reason then it is like a domino effect for all of the other issues that can arise in the present and later in life. I am finding Teenage Anxiety to be more and more prevalent. In my experience, the most common reasons for teenage Anxiety are
- Peer Pressure
- Exams
- Social Media
- Parental/Own Expectations
- Isolation
- Bullying
Over the past number of years, I find that for the most part up to 6 sessions is normally more than enough. On arrival I take a detailed assessment which includes Acugraph which shows exactly how bad the Anxiety is and how it is affecting the rest of the body and where we need to get to. This will be done on a weekly basis. Normal treatment includes Acupuncture and Herbs if necessary. I also do Hypnotherapy to relax the mind if required.
Hormones and Mood: Adolescence is a time where sex hormones such as oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone are shifting tremendously creating all kinds of strange new feelings and experiences within the body. Acupuncture can help your teen manage bouts of depression and anxiety. It can also help teenage girls have a healthier and less painful menstrual cycle.
Improves Sleep: Sleep is of incredible importance for everyone at all stages of life but especially so for children and adolescents. It is while our children our sleeping that their brains undergo an enormous amount of development. Teens need about 8-10 hours a night to function optimally. Inadequate sleep in adolescence has been linked to an inability to learn, listen and concentrate leading to poor outcomes at school. It can even contribute to poor eating habits, acne and behavioural issues.
Reduces Acne: This goes along with hormones and can be effectively treated by improving sleep, diet and managing the hormones. Acupuncture& herbal medicine is great at reducing acne.
Boosts Immunity: A number of small clinical trials have had promising results regarding acupuncture’s ability to modulate the immune response, particularly in children with asthma. Additionally, acupuncture can be used to effectively boost immunity to prevent colds, flus, and other common childhood illnesses.
Promotes Healthy digestion: If your gut is not healthy and balanced then it is like a domino effect for all of the other issues that can arise in the present and later in life. Acupuncture can be a very useful tool for helping the digestive system regulate itself better, to minimize symptoms and also to increase the body’s ability to effectively absorb nutrients. We now know what Chinese Medicine has known for thousands of years. Gut health is vitally important to the functioning of the brain and neurotransmitters, hormones and immune response