Thursday 17 April 2014

Acupuncture for treating burnout

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has helped me innumerable times through the years with all sorts of problems, using herbs, moxibustion and of course acupuncture. In a recent study at Sahlgrenska University Hospital here in Göteborg, Tina Arvidsdotter treated patients suffering from burnout (or exhaustion syndrome as we often call it in Swedish) with acupuncture and therapeutic talks.

The treatment was surprisingly effective! 120 patients were involved in the study, and 80 received acupuncture and some kind of therapy sessions. About 50% of those having acupuncture described themselves as less depressed, having less anxiety and were generally more happy with their lives. In the control group, receiving a more typical treatment, only 10% felt improvement.

Tina Arvidsdotter, trained in traditional Chinese acupuncture and also a nurse, points out that more research is needed, but that acupuncture seems well suited for treatment of psychological health issues. And I couldn't agree more. The way I have experienced TCM treatments, they can have a very big impact on energy, mental strength and self-esteem. And their holistic approach to health is very interesting. If just a little bit of TCM treatments could be introduced into western medicine, I think it would be a big step forward.

Sunday 13 April 2014

New Song: One Wing




The swedish actor and writer Kent Andersson died a few years ago. I live and work across the street from his home theatre, Aftonstjärnan (The Evening Star) in Göteborg. Many of us go through difficulties in life, making us feel curtailed or diminished. For several years this poem by Kent Andersson have given me new insights on these feelings.

The Wing 
We all walk around with just one wing
that we can not fly with
which becomes a burden to us
that we have to conceal.
We probably would have been able to fly
if not all self-appointed superintendents,
masters of school
and all of the practical, tactical,
zealous, critical,
anemeic, academic
wrong-finders with a lecturing tone
had said:
you surely can not fly!
Stay on the ground, you one-winged bastard!
And if you even dream of daring
with a single wing beat
to test your ability to fly
we will take your wing some day!
We all go around with just one wing,
a dream, a longing, a song.
What if our wings were to
fly together again!

Sunday 6 April 2014

Today I listen to...



Amazing norwegian trumpet player Arve Henriksen, from his solo album Places of Worship released last year. It seems he is living here in my home town Göteborg at the moment!