The ancient Chinese practice of acupuncture could be used to treat anxiety and depression instead of drugs, says health features editor Laura Milne.

T IS best known as a treatment for controlling our aches and pains but few of us know that acupuncture can also be used to treat anxiety and depression.

New research by the British Acupuncture Council and the charity Anxiety UK, revealed that only 10 per cent of sufferers use acupuncture to deal with their anxiety, whereas almost half (49.2 per cent) are prescribed medication.

Almost all participants of the study (93.8 per cent), commissioned to mark World Mental Health Day on Thursday, said they would be open to trying a complementary therapy but nearly two thirds (62.7 per cent) were not even aware that acupuncture could help their condition.

Anxiety UK believes this could be down to a lack of understanding of the condition, cost of treatments as well as problems accessing therapies, especially complementary therapies.

Nick Pahl of the British Acupuncture Council says: “As traditional acupuncture can be enormously beneficial for anxiety, we felt it was important to better inform those suffering with the condition about how acupuncture can help so they can make an educated decision regarding their treatment.”