Anxiety and Depression Can Be Helped by Getting Regular Massage

Anxiety and Depression can be helped by getting regular weekly or every other week massage sessions.

A study A Meta-Analysis of Massage Therapy ResearchChristopher A. Moyer, James Rounds, and James W. HannumUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign that came out in 2004 showed that reductions of trait anxiety and depression were MT's largest effects, with a course of treatment providing benefits similar in magnitude to those of psychotherapy.

While many people come to massage with physical issues like back pain, neck pain and muscular problems which massage does help relieve, the most significant use of massage is to relieve anxiety and depression. I have worked with many people in the past 20 years who receive such benefits of massage many without really even realizing it. Others who get regular weekly massage find that significant lifestyle changes go hand in hand with getting regular massage. People change jobs or go back to school and are looking to have more meaning in their lives. Their relationships improve at work and at home after getting regular massage sessions.

The body mind connection is being researched more today to explain physical pains and other diseases.

www.integrativehealthcare.org has this information about anxiety and disease processes:

According to Harvard University scholars, physical diseases are harder to treat in the estimated 57 million adults who suffer from an anxiety disorder. More specifically, heart disease, chronic respiratory disorders and gastrointestinal ailments are more severe when coupled with anxiety:

Heart Disease - Published in a 2005 edition of Circulation, the Nurses' Health Study found that women with the highest levels of phobic anxiety were 59 percent more likely to have a heart attack and 31 percent more likely to die from one than women with the lowest anxiety levels. In addition, data from 3,300 postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative showed that a history of full-blown panic attacks tripled the risk of a coronary event or stroke.

· Respiratory Disorders - In several studies involving people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, anxiety has been associated with more frequent hospitalization and with more severe distress at every level of lung function. Published in the May 2008 edition of the Annals of General Psychiatry, Greek researchers found that depression and anxiety were very prevalent in participants with pulmonary disease, especially chronic disease.

· Gastrointestinal Ailments - Published in the June 2008 edition of the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, German researchers found that gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are associated significantly with depression and anxiety in primary care. More specifically, they found that the prevalence of severe levels of anxiety was nearly fourfold in patients with GI symptoms compared to patients without GI symptoms.

While more research is needed, it is clear that these findings are helpful for starters.

Call today to make your appointment. Getting regular weekly massage can help you to get more in touch with the feelings that underlie anxiety.