Acupuncture and Mental Health - The 13 Ghost Points

With the ghouls and ghosts of halloween adorning households at the moment, it seemed like a good time to talk about the 13 Ghost Points in acupuncture.

Unsurprisingly, ghost points in Chinese Medicine have nothing to do with Halloween but everything to do with the human spirit.

In ancient China, description of mental health and addictions were described as becoming possessed by demons and ghosts.

It was an acupuncturist and herbalist named Sun Si-Miao, alive during the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) who first wrote about the 13 ghost points. He realised that as culture advanced, so did psychological illness. An observation that I believe to be as true today as it was back in Ancient China.

The 13 Ghost points are a systematic approach to treating mental illness. The ‘ghost’ (Gui) in Chinese means excess phlegm, the presence of which over time gradually takes over the clear thinking of an individual.

Phlegm is considered to be the most severe of influences on the mind of a person in Chinese Medicine. However, there are many stages of disturbance of the heart, mind or soul that can be treated through acupuncture before this stage of severity is reached.  These include anxiety, insomnia, mild depression or low mood.

Today, Ghost points are often incorporated into treatments to bring about a sense of grounding, wellness and peace.

The 13 names of the ghost points are:

Ghost Palace

Ghost Hall

Ghost Pillow

Ghost Market

Ghost Faith

Ghost Leg

Ghost Heart

Ghost Cave

Ghost Bed

Ghost Fortress

Ghost Path

Ghost Seal

Ghost Store

Happy Halloween!