Expert: R. Scott Malone L.Ac. - 8/10/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I'm a 25 years old male and I've diagnosed with several illnesses including demon possession!.And schizophrenia also I've been diagnosed with Schizoaffective  ,The last diagnosis was Severe OCD. and i kinda agree with it.i contacted a professional lately about my condition ironically he is not licensed practitioner but he studied psychiatry,Anyway he advised me to switch right away to acupuncture he even showed me 5 points which i should do acupuncture in.Im looking for a good clinch these days in Bahrain but am not sure yet that's the right diagnosis .What should i tell the practitioner and how does going to help and how long does it going to take.


best wishes

ANSWER: Hi ALi,

In many cases I let people know that acupuncture is the primary modality to take care of a certain issue.

This is not one of them.

I would say that acupuncture would be a great adjunct therapy in conjunction with a mental health specialist.

If the professional was not a licensed mental health specialist, I would find one and get a professional opiniion.

That being said, acupuncture can be and has been used for mental health issues.

Yang patterns will tend to be of the more excited, agitated variety sometimes including hallucinations and tend towards chaos in general. Clearing heat and phlegm is usually the most common path to take.

Yin patterns tend to have more of a flat demeanor and fatigue with tendancies of lassitude and weakness. In these cases usually the qi and blood are tonified as well as the kidney yang.

These are broad generalizations, there are many,many diagnoses that ccan affect the mind in a severe way.
If you are going to use acupuncture as an adjunct therapy, I would find an acupuncturist who specializes in this field of acupuncture and get a good constitutional diagnosis.

If you were having more mild emotional issues, I would recommend acupucnture to balance and rectify the emotions, but yours seem more serious.

I would contact a mental health specialist first.

I hope this helps my friend, if you have any other questions feel free to ask.

R. Scott Malone L.Ac.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much for replying .I forgot to include that I've under been under medication since 2007 i almost tried all of the OCD drugs except for one that has not been proved very affective.

I also tried schizophrenia drugs with not improvement at all including injections from various types of drugs.

Because i live in the middle-east the acupuncture here is not that much sophisticated so i will find a trouble getting to the right therapist i want to know how to judge one if he's good enough or not.


Thank you again for responding so fast and i hope that am not troubling you.

Answer
Hey Ali,

In my opinion, the judge of a good acupuncturist is results.

A string of letters behind a name, doesn't necessarily mean a good physician.

The best thing to do would to talk to someone that recommends an acupuncturist for getting results. Perhaps you could check the internet for reviews or testimonials.

You may end up having to visit one and decide for yourself.

The bottom line however is results. Do you feel better, are you making progress?

I'm sorry I can't be of more help, it's not such an easy thing to find someone good
in any profession.

Ask around in your circle of friends and see if anyone has had a good experience with a specific individual. Other than that, you may just have to take the plunge and pick one.

Be Well Ali,

R. Scott Malone L.Ac.