Acupuncture treatment of schizophrenia: report on three cases

Abstract

A 9 wk blind controlled study of the effects of acupuncture of schizophrenic illness was conducted in 3 patients on an inpatient ward of a psychiatric hospital. The patients were used as their own controls. The effects of acupuncture, pseudo-acupuncture (random needling) and no-treatment control periods were compared. Two patients who had had florid schizophrenic symptoms responded positively to true acupuncture treatments and negatively to pseudo-acupuncture. The 3rd patient, whose symptoms were primarily affective-depressive, showed no significant response to treatment. The mechanisms thought to be involved in the etiology of schizophrenia were discussed, focusing on the cortical arousal hypothesis.