Clinical Study: Acupuncture Effective for Depression and Anxiety

In a German university study conducted in March 2000, Eich and colleagues conducted a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind study involving 43 people with mild depression and 13 patients with generalized anxiety disorder. In the patients treated with verum (real) acupuncture, 60.7% experienced significant improvement in overall rating scores following 10 sessions. An even higher response of 85.7% was recorded among the group with anxiety disorder.

Notably, no improvement was reported after 5 sessions, but significant improvement occurred after 10 sessions. This illustrates the cumulative effect of acupuncture on mood, and the necessity for patients coming in specifically to treat mood-related issues to commit to a series of treatments.

To learn more about the study, click here.