Alternative Medicine As A Treatment For Anxiety

The Western medicine establishment historically has dismissed all forms of alternative medicine as ineffective. There is no distinction made between, say, a chiropractor and a witch doctor or between an herbalist's recommendations for herbal medicines and Granny's home remedies for stress relief.Very few medical doctors will tell a patient with a backache to see a chiropractor. The medical doctor will prescribe pain medication and refer the patient to another medical doctor who specializes in bone and joint disorders and surgeries (an orthopedist), but sending a patient to a chiropractor who could actually make the back pain go away without the use of drugs or surgery just isn't going to happen" or it isn't going to happen very often. A few medical doctors do recognize the value of alternative medicine, but not many.

The stress free knowledge gained through the practice of alternative medicine over several centuries is what Western medicine is based on. Somebody didn't come along and invent modern Western medicine one day. No, Western medicine EVOLVED. The prescription drugs that doctors write prescriptions for today are synthetic versions of herbal medicines that have been used for 5,000 years by people without degrees from medical schools.Chiropractors, herbalists, acupuncturists, aroma therapists, and hypnotists are all considered to be practicing "alternative medicine." Chinese medicine that has been practiced for thousands of years is also considered alternative medicine.Don't be fooled by the term. "Alternative medicine" is simply any practice designed to improve health that ISN'T conventional Western medicine.

Eons ago, in the dusty, dim history of mankind, people got sick. And when people got sick, they sought the help of one who knew what to do to make them feel better. Today we call them "doctors," but they've had many names over the centuries.Chinese medicine, or medicine from the East, is a school of thought that considers the whole person. The medical problem is seen as a symptom rather than a disease. Chinese medicine has always treated the physical and mental aspects of humans. The belief that the body and mind are interdependent is a basic concept. The body can make the mind sick, and the mind can make the body sick, and when either the mind or the body is sick, the other is directly affected.

When a Chinese medicine practitioner is consulted, he begins his examination of his patient the moment he meets him or her. He notes the posture and the condition of the hair, the nails, and the skin tone. He collects dozens of bits of relevant information before he ever even touches his patient.Then he listens to the patient. He asks questions and then gives the patient time to formulate and deliver information. The Chinese medicine practitioner is LISTENING to what his patient is saying, but he is also noting HOW the patient is saying it, always looking for symptoms of anxiety.

When a Chinese medicine practitioner examines his patient, he doesn't just examine "what hurts." He examines the entire physical body. The patient may be complaining of a stomach ache, but the Chinese medicine practitioner will also examine his patient's feet, the top of his head, and everything in between.Chinese medicine is practiced based on chi (the balance of circulating energy in the body). Chi affects the yin and yang (the complementary and opposite forces that make up the life force).

There were no medical doctors or corner drugstores in the ancient world, but people got sick. And when people got sick, they wanted to get well, just like we do today. Today, when we aren't feeling well, we make an appointment with our family doctor, and when he sees us, he usually prescribes a prescription drug that is supposed to make us feel better.

Sometimes the prescription drug does make us feel better, but sometimes it doesn't "work." So we make another appointment, see him again, and the doctor prescribes a different prescription medication. We might make several appointments and see him several times, and he might prescribe several different medications before he hits on the one that will solve our problem. He is making educated guesses sometimes based upon medical tests, but they are guesses nevertheless. If they weren't, he'd always get it right the first time.That trial-and-error method is the same one that was used to build the store of knowledge that makes up herbal medicine today. The "tests" weren't as sophisticated as the tests that doctors use today, and the "prescriptions" weren't filled at the corner drugstore. The medications that were used to make people feel better were found out in the fields and forests" plants and herbs.

Over the centuries knowledge was passed down from generation to generation. It was found that "tea" made from the leaves or roots of one plant would "cure" a stomach ache and the chewing the leaves or roots from other plants would ease pain. Poultices made from certain plants reduced swelling. In short, the stems, leaves, roots, and flowers from certain plants were discovered to cure human ills. Today we call that body of information "herbal
medicine.Most of the wonder drugs that are prescribed by medical doctors today are synthetic versions of herbal medications that have been in use for centuries.