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One persona was associated with the sexual and physical abuse he had experienced in childhood . Two other personas were similar to parental roles that seemed to be in place of his actual parents who were neglectful . These voices would often cause the patient to fall into a catatonic , depressive state for several hours .
HOW TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE VIEWS SCHIZOPHRENIA AND DID
In Traditional Chinese Medicine ( TCM ), schizophrenia is related to a kidney yin deficiency . Traumatic events or chronic stress depletes yin or the body ’ s life essence . The kidney in particular is affected because it is associated with fear .
Excessive fear caused by chronic trauma damages kidney essence , creating a yin and yang imbalance . Yang energy rises and disrupts the mind , impeding mental function and maturation , resulting in delusions and abnormal behaviors . Using the 5-element theory perspective , the kidney , which is associated with water is not able to balance the fire element of the heart , which represents mind / spirits , thus causing damage .
Based on this TCM perspective , various acupuncture points were used to reinforce kidney yin energy in the patient .
INTEGRATING ACUPUNCTURE INTO CONVENTIONAL TREATMENTS
Most conventional treatments like anti-psychotic medication and mood stabilizers are commonly used to control symptoms . However , they don ’ t necessarily help with the social withdrawal , apathy or cognitive deficits that patients experience . Many patients do not tolerate medication well . Some medications can even increase the risk of mortality . Side effects like dry mouth , weight gain , movement effects and sedation can also make a patient less likely to take them on a regular basis . Behavior therapy with a psychiatrist doesn ’ t always work either .
By receiving acupuncture in addition to medication and behavioral therapy , the patient in this case study was able to see profound improvement in his symptoms . Based on the psychiatric rating scale , which measures the severity of symptoms , the patient scored 80.5 out of 126 between October 2018 and January 2019 . After treatment , the patient ’ s symptoms improved to 57.33 on the 126 scale from January 2019 to November 2019 . Overall , he became less irritable , paranoid and stressed . When he previously scored these symptoms consistently as a 5 ( moderately severe ), 6 ( severe ), 7 ( extremely severe ) on a 7-point scale , they reduced to a 2 ( very mild ), 3 ( mild ), 4 ( moderate ).
Once acupuncture was incorporated , negative personas that were once always there started
to disappear and become much less prominent . His ally persona became more present . Another ally that wasn ’ t there before was created , which told him the truth and helped him calm down .
IMPACTFUL APPROACHES TO TREATING SCHIZOPHRENIA AND DID
1 . ESTABLISH TRUST WITH THE PATIENT
Two of the most important aspects to treating this condition are establishing trust and consistent care . Currently there are only a handful of studies that have been done on acupuncture treatment for schizophrenia and none on acupuncture treatment for DID . The studies on acupuncture treatment for schizophrenia all have mixed results that show some aspects improve while others do not . One of the reasons for this may be because patients , who are often experiencing paranoia and delusions don ’ t easily trust other people , health care professionals in particular , especially if there are a lot of different professionals performing trials .
SUMMER 2024 / ALUMNEWS 11