Depressive and manic disorders

Star

Textbook Prescriptions Mental-Emotional

Essentials of Chinese Acupuncture (Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing Colleges of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1980) — the standard prescriptions of the Chinese colleges.

Points

GV26 Shuigou midline

Governing Vessel point at the philtrum; restores clarity and quells madness
LU11 Shaoshang bilateral

Jing-Well of the Lung; clears heat and restores clarity
SP1 Yinbai bilateral

Jing-Well of the Spleen; clears heat and restores clarity
PC7 Daling bilateral

Yuan-Source of the Pericardium; drains heat from the Pericardium channel
BL62 Shenmai bilateral

Confluent point of the Yang Qiao Mai; clears heat from the Yang Qiao to calm the mind
GV16 Fengfu midline

Governing Vessel point below the occiput; clears heat in the Du channel to calm the mind
- ⚠ Spinal cord / medulla
ST6 Jiache bilateral

Stomach point at the angle of the jaw; disperses Foot-Yangming heat
CV24 Chengjiang midline

Conception Vessel point below the lower lip
PC8 Laogong bilateral

Ying-Spring of the Pericardium; drains heat from the Pericardium channel
GV23 Shangxing midline

Governing Vessel point above the hairline; clears Du channel heat to calm the mind
LI11 Quchi bilateral

He-Sea of the Large Intestine; disperses Hand-Yangming heat

Needling Safety

Cited hazards for these points. Tick what applies to the patient to see the cautions that follow from it.

GV16 Fengfu
- ⚠ Spinal cord / medulla risk: deep or misdirected insertion can enter the spinal canal. World Health Organization 1999, Section II §5.2 (Central nervous system), p. 25; Wu J, Hu Y, Zhu Y, Yin P, Litscher G, Xu S 2015, Table 2 (Central nervous system injury associated with acupuncture)

Treatment Principle

Settle the heart and spirit and bring back a clear mind, mainly through the Governing Vessel and the Pericardium channel.

Indications

Depressive type: gradual onset, low mood and dullness, later incoherent speech and confused thinking or mutism, excessive sleep, poor appetite, thin or moderate tongue coating, wiry thin pulseManic type: sudden onset after irritability and loss of sleep and appetite, then shouting, tearing at clothing, running around, not sleeping, breaking objects and striking people, yellow sticky tongue coating, wiry rolling rapid pulse

Method

Even method for the depressive type, with moxibustion as the condition allows; reducing method for mania.

⚠ Cautions

Acute psychosis and mania are psychiatric emergencies: ensure the safety of the patient and others and arrange psychiatric care; acupuncture is not a substitute for it, and needling an agitated patient carries real risk of injury. Assess suicide risk in depression. GV16 lies over the medulla: never needle deeply or upward, and avoid it in a patient who cannot keep still.

About

The textbook's single prescription for depressive and manic mental disorders, applied with even method for depression and reducing method for mania.

Rationale

In the book's account GV26, LU11 and SP1 restore clarity, clear heat and subdue madness. PC7 and PC8, the Source and Spring points of the Pericardium, drain heat from that channel, while BL62, GV16 and GV23 clear heat from the Yang Qiao and Governing vessels to steady the mind. ST6 and LI11 disperse heat from the Foot and Hand Yangming channels.

Clinical Notes

For mania with extreme heat, bleed the Jing-Well points of the hands (twelve points). The book equates these disorders with the depressive and manic forms of schizophrenia and psychosis, and gives an ear-acupuncture option.

Sources

Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, et al. Essentials of Chinese Acupuncture. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1980. Chapter III, Depressive and manic mental disorders, p. 352–353.

📝 Notes

Public notes from the community and your own private notes on Depressive and manic disorders.

No notes yet.

Back to Point Combinations