There is a milder form of mania, for instance, known as a hypomanic episode, in which patients display manic symptoms for a period of three or four days. If the manic episode lasts for a week or longer, as is the case with our patient above, then the patient is experiencing full-blown mania. It is also somewhat common for bipolar patients to experience mixed episodes. These episodes involve "swinging" back and forth from one pole to the next, experiencing symptoms of both mania and depression within the same day.

From international surveys, we have come to learn that around 1.5% of all adults suffer from bipolar disorders. The average bipolar patient experiences around four episodes within a ten-year time span. There are those patients, however, who experience recurring episodes throughout their lives. Thus, it is quite likely that you will have to deal with a bipolar patient as an acupuncturist at some time or another.

From the standpoint of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the onset of a manic phase can be traced back to a disruption in an individual's Husband-Wife balance. Normally, the Husband Officials - associated with the Heart, Kidney, and Liver as the ascending Yang energy - dominate the Wife Officials - associated with the Spleen, Lung, and Master of the Heart as the descending Yin energy, which stabilizes and grounds us. In the event of a manic episode, the Wife Officials over take the Husband Officials. As the Wife's...

This leads to a loss of normal function on the spiritual, mental, and physical level. What frequently happens when the Husband-Wife balance is thrown off is that the patient is no longer able to reorganize his or her own energetic architecture. They are thus unable to recover from stress in a normal fashion. This will oftentimes lead to the patient entering into a manic episode.
Acupuncturists such as Charles a. Moss have recommended the use of Five-Element acupuncture as a means of treating the Husband-Wife imbalance in a patient. Specifically, it is believed that a utilization of the tonification technique of Five-Element acupuncture can provide relief from the symptoms of a manic attack. This technique entails the quick insertion of a needle into the acupuncture point. The Chi sensation is then recruited. This should be followed by a 180' turn, quick removal, and a sealing of the point.

Moss recommends that this treatment be employed at any point when the acupuncturist suspects a Husband-Wife disruption.

Works Cited

Moss, Charles a. "Five-Element Acupuncture for Husband-Wife Imbalance and Bipolar

Disorder." Medical Acupuncture Spring/Summer 1999. http://www.medicalacupuncture.com/aama_marf/journal/vol11_1/bipolar.html

See, for example, Moss.