Hi fern46. When I have had a negative experience with something someone's interested in, I try not to demonize or totally discount it, unless I know it's unequivocally harmful. I don't want to discount acupuncture, because I have heard of people having some success with it. I know that acupuncture has a long history of being helpful for various things. I don't know its history at really helping psych issues, or if it could be possible for it to help. Nevertheless, I will share my experience having acupuncture.

Perhaps about seven years ago, I had been having major issues with depression. A good friend of mine at the time knew it and was concerned. Her new husband had recently completed an intensive study program in acupuncture (and other similar treatments) and was planning to set up an acupuncture business. They offered for him to give me free acupuncture to try to help my depression. He wanted someone to "test" his skills on and to do me a favor. Before having it done for the first time, I mentioned it to my psychiatrist. My psychiatrist is an older doctor with traditional/standard psychiatric views and methods. When I told him he sternly said "Don't have it done!" I heard him, but gave it a try anyway, against his wishes. The first time didn't really make a difference, but the second time I actually had an odd reaction. When leaving my friend's house, where the acupuncture was done, I was disoriented and loopy. I was driving unsafely, going through stop signs and red lights. That scared me a bit. I soon after saw my psychiatrist and told him, and he was quite angry with me and told me to stop them. I ended up taking my psychiatrist's advice and let my friend's husband know that I was discontinuing his treatments. That angered my friend's husband because he probably felt a combo of insulted, that I didn't give the treatments enough time, etc. However, I also communicated my psychiatrist's point that having the acupuncture in a way interfered with understanding my psych medications' efficacy (or lack thereof).

As said far above, I can't be sure if acupuncture could have helped with my depression over time. Perhaps my friend's husband was a bit too inexperienced and unknowledgeable about the art? He obviously wasn't aware of its side effects. My advice is that if you do decide to try acupuncture, try to find someone with a lot of experience helping people with psych issues, particularly bipolar disorder.

I lived in Taiwan in the past, and knew an experienced herbal doctor there. I had not been diagnosed at that time. Herbal medicine in China, and other parts of Asia, also has a very long history. The fact is that some of those treatments, when prescribed by an educated/experienced herbal doctor have proven to be helpful for some ailments. I don't know about its efficacy for depression and bipolar disorder. I don't believe many herbal doctors specialize in mental health treatment. For that reason, I would be wary of trying it. I am wary of trying things not approved by the FDA of the US and my psychiatrist. I know that that doesn't mean alternative medicine/treatments can't work. However, my psychiatrist did have a good point about its interference in knowing efficacy of standard treatments. Alternative medication may also have unexpected side effects that could be worrisome or even dangerous.

My psychiatrist does recommend pretty much anything exercise-related or mainstream therapy-related. He'd be happy to hear if I took yoga or Tai Ji Quan. I doubt he'd be thrilled if I wanted hypnosis, though.