Massage Articles
Bodywork’s Therapeutic Role in Depression
Identification
A major depressive disorder can severely disrupt someone’s life. The symptoms
that help a physician identify depression, include:
· constant feelings of sadness, emptiness, irritability or tension
· decreased interest or pleasure in usual activities or hobbies
· loss of energy, feeling tired despite lack of activity
· a change in appetite, with significant weight loss or weight gain
· a change in sleeping patterns, such as difficulty sleeping, early morning
awakening or sleeping too much
· restlessness or feeling slowed down
· decreased ability to make decisions or concentrate
· feelings of worthlessness, disappointment with oneself, hopelessness or guilt
· thoughts of suicide or death
Body Changes
Often resulting from a combination of factors, depression has no single cause.
For some, its arrival comes as a complete surprise. Several distinctive
features have been noted in the brain and endocrine system of depressed
individuals, but whether they cause the problem or are caused by the problem,
is still a mystery. Such features include:
· Neurotransmitter imbalance – Three main neurotransmitters have been associated with depression: serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. It is not clear whether these neurotransmitters are deficient, or whether nervous system cells develop resistance to receiving them.
· Hormone imbalance – An imbalance of neurotransmitters causes a disruption of regular hormonal secretion levels. The hormones most affected include progesterone, estrogen, endorphins and cortisol. Endorphins are referred to as the “feel good” hormones while cortisol is considered the “stress” hormone.
· Pituitary-adrenal axis imbalance – This axis connects the central nervous and endocrine systems. Under the direction of the brain’s hypothalamus, the pituitary gland controls the adrenal glands via corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF). Depressed people tend to secrete excessive amounts of CRF, meaning that they create long-lasting stress responses to minimal stimuli.
Western Treatment
Western medicine traditionally approaches depression with a two-pronged method,
involving physician-prescribed medication and psychotherapy.
1. Medications used for depression usually fall into one of three categories of antidepressants: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), or tricyclics. These medications aim to make neurotransmitters more easily accessible in the mood-determining areas of the brain.
2. To help patients improve coping skills and reduce the effects and recurrence of depressive episodes, psychologists and psychiatrists administer psychotherapy.
Medications and psychotherapy can be lifesavers, especially when someone is considering suicide to escape depression. Bodywork should never be proposed to replace these modalities but, rather, be considered as an adjunct. Massage therapy can help a person return to his/her healthy self more rapidly and minimize the negative consequences of antidepressant drugs.
Massage Therapy
Aside from a general understanding that massage feels good, bodywork can have
significant, therapeutic value in battling depression. Three physiological
explanations for massage therapy’s tremendous positive impact on depressed
people include:
1. Touch improves the efficiency of the pituitary-adrenal axis. A healthfully functioning pituitary-adrenal axis quickly neutralizes the chemical changes that cascade when a threat is present. When this system is not working well, these chemicals remain in the body longer, lengthening the amount of time the person experiences stress. Studies on animals reveal one reason for a sluggish stress response – lack of tactile stimulation. In human society, this translates to touch deprivation capable of causing or exacerbating depression. Ironically, depression tends to cause people to isolate themselves even further from tactile stimulation, potentially worsening their depression.
2. Right and left lobe brain symmetry minimizes depression susceptibility. Research about how massage affects mood indicates a shift in electroencephalogram (EEG) activation from the right frontal lobe (usually associated with sad affect) to the left frontal lobe (usually associated with happy affect), or at least towards symmetry between lobes. The redistribution of electrical activity within the brain can exhibit a profound effect on a person’s emotional state.
3. The balancing of hormones and neurotransmitters can be encouraged naturally with massage. Shifting people from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic state, massage brings about several physiological and chemical changes in the body, including increases in serotonin and endorphin secretion, and a decrease in cortisol. A majority of studies investigating the effects of massage measure these three chemicals because they are crucial ingredients for each person’s health. In general, serotonin and endorphins function to make people feel good, while cortisol functions to transmit feelings of pain and stress. Nearly every clinical trial evaluating massage therapy reports that bodywork enhances serotonin and endorphin levels, and reduces circulating levels of cortisol.
Why Massage's Reduction of Anxiety Is So
Important
Massage's ability to foster relaxation and relieve anxiety seems obvious.
However, the universally accepted consequences of intentional touch have been
underestimated for far too long. Based on facts compiled by academics at
While it makes perfect sense that massage's release of muscle tension would also reduce anxiety levels, our empirical society demands that scientific research prove any generally accepted notion. A pioneer in confirming the value of massage therapy, Tiffany Field, Ph.D., formally established The Touch Research Institute (TRI) at the University Of Miami School Of Medicine in 1992. The first center in the world devoted solely to the study of touch and its application in science and medicine, TRI has conducted countless trials on the physiological impact of bodywork. Based on over 100 studies and 350 articles in respected medical journals, Field is one of the most influential contributors to transforming massage therapy into an acknowledged arm of complementary medicine.
Anxiety Reduction
Under Field's guidance, TRI has published landmark studies on touch therapy's
reduction of anxiety. Two of those include:
1. Published in 1992 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, TRI researchers found that a 30-minute back massage given daily for five days reduced anxiety of hospitalized, depressed and adjustment disorder children and adolescents.
2. Published in 1996 in the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science,
TRI researchers found that significant reductions in anxiety levels were found
in employees receiving on-site chair massage.
These two studies represent a small sampling of the evidence equating massage therapy with anxiety relief. Used in Field's and others' research, chemical markers, anxiety questionnaires and other medical tests are used to measure these results, and bodywork's reduction of anxiety levels has been repeatedly demonstrated.
Anxiety and Physical Illness
Putting massage research on other conditions aside, the ability of bodywork to
relieve anxiety is so important, because high anxiety levels are connected to
many physical ailments. Although most bodyworkers recognize the strong
connection between emotions and physical health, scientific research on the
physiology of anxiety-related illness is just beginning.
According to
· 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.
The scientific community is finally gathering the proof concluding that anxiety worsens many types of chronic, potentially fatal diseases. As more irrefutable evidence links anxiety disorders to heart, respiratory and digestive diseases, anxiety relief is becoming more important than ever. Massage therapy has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to reduce anxiety levels within the medical research model. Thus, bodywork is emerging as one of the most valuable therapies for addressing the concurrence of emotional and physical health.
Fun With Foot Massage
Feet! For some, they're a love-hate affair. Love to use them and often
abuse them; hate paying the price after a day spent in inappropriate
but fashionable footwear. Give your feet a break with this four-step
foot massage recommended by the American Massage Therapy Association.
You can do it with a partner or try the massage on your own.
- Stroke the sole of your foot in a straight line from the heel to the base of your toes. Use your thumb or the heel of your hand. Use a motion that goes back and forth across the foot.
- Massage the area between your toes using your fingers and your thumb. Wiggle and wriggle the toes and pull each one gently. Then move to the four metatarsal bones that run along the top and middle of the foot. Moving from the base of your toes to just above your ankle, slowly massage one area at a time.
- Using your thumb, press a spot on your sole and make small, circular movements. Repeat until you've covered the entire sole of your foot.
- Still working the sole, use your pointer and middle fingers to make crosswise movements, back and forth, from the heel to the ball of your foot.