Table of Contents
Massage has been used to heal many psychological and physical health problems for centuries all over the world. Many researches have been conducted on this old healing technique which indicates that massage can be of great help in elevating depressed mood, reduce stress and anxiety levels as well as stress hormones.
Benefits Of Massage For Depression And Anxiety
How Massage Works?
Our skin has millions of nerve receptors that are connected to our nervous system. When your skin is massaged, it causes stimulation and your body releases many beneficial mood and health enhancing chemicals in the brain like dopamine and serotonin and also reduces stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline.
It upsurges the alpha brain waves that relaxe the body along with increasing the level of pain relieving endorphins. Massage can boost your immune system, stabilize your blood sugar level and by improving the blood circulation, it can also improve lung function. By inducing relaxation, it increases the work productivity. As skin and nervous system are intimately connected, massage helps to reduce stress, depression and anxiety.
How Massage Therapy Help You To Feel Better?
Massage therapists use their fingertips, hands and elbows to put gentle pressure on the skin to treat any physical and emotional problem. Research conducted by ‘The Touch Research Institute’ of University of Miami on the effect of massage therapy on depression and anxiety demonstrates that anxiety and depression are very much related to a person’s mood.
The study concludes that massage therapy help to relieve the patients of depression and anxiety by affecting the biochemistry of the body. Research was conducted on women, men and children suffering from depression and stress problem found that the massage therapy lowered the level of cortisol (the stress hormone) up to 53%. Massage also simultaneously increased the levels of serotonin and dopamine, the neurotransmitters that works to reduce depression.
How Is Manage Beneficial For Uplifting Depressed Moods?
The research conducted by New Mood Research Institute at the University of Manchester explains that depression and anxiety have a connection with your mood. According to them, depression has three main parts – inability in experiencing pleasure, over sensitivity to stress and a negative approach towards the circumstances.
The stress hormones cortisol and epinephrine causes your mind to worry and body to tire. Massage by releasing serotonin and endorphin reduces both fatigue and stress. The serotonin works to calm the body while endorphin works to stimulate the brain. Together they work to elevate the body and mind to relax and get back to anxiety-free normal life.
How Massage Helps To Diminish Anxiety Levels?
Another research conducted by Tiffany Fields, at the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami, School of Medicine in the USA indicates the value of regular massage in reducing the anxiety levels. The data produced by the study shows that there were significant reduction in anxiety and depression in people on whom the massage therapy was applied in comparison to those who were not massaged.
Their sleep pattern and mood also improved considerably. They had sound sleep for a longer period of time. People massaged had lower level of cortisol (stress hormone) on their saliva and urinary cortisol and noradrenaline level were also reduced, which usually increases when a person is stressed. Other studies conducted in various institutes also confirms these researches.
It has been observed that people with depression and anxiety, muscle tension and pains who do not show significant improvement after taking antidepressant/anti-anxiety medication, reported considerable improvement after being given a regular massage therapy for few days.
