A study from the University of York in Britain suggests that acupuncture may be as effective at treating depression as counselling.
Out of the 755 people recruited for the study, 302 were randomly assigned to receive weekly acupuncture sessions, 302 to receive weekly counselling sessions, and the remaining 151 received usual care only. On a depression scale of 0 to 27, on average, participants had a score of 16 at the outset (considered moderately severe depression). After 3 months, the acupuncture participants had an average score of 9, the counselling participants had a score of 11, while the usual care group had a score of 13.
As a higher depression score indicates more severe depression, these results suggest that participants who received acupuncture or counselling saw larger improvements in 3 months than those with neither treatment, with the benefits persisting for 3 months after the treatments ceased.
However, as the majority of participants were still taking antidepressants during the study, researchers cautioned that counselling and acupuncture should not be used as a replacement for medication. Nonetheless, the study sheds light on the different alternative options available to people for treating depression.
Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/an-alternative-acupuncture-as-good-as-counselling-for-depression-study-finds/article14541329/
