Massage for Mental Health: Moderate Pressure
Depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions have many impacts on our body, mind, and emotions.
Massage techniques using “moderate pressure” help the body find relaxation amongst it all.
Thank you to Hyperbole and a Half for this validating art if you experience depression or are preparing for your annual SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) party.
So here is the jargon:
“When moderate and light pressure massage have been compared in laboratory studies, moderate pressure massage reduced depression, anxiety and heart rate, and it altered EEG patterns, as in a relaxation response. Moderate pressure massage has also led to increased vagal activity and decreased cortisol levels. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data have suggested that moderate pressure massage was represented in several brain regions including the amygdala, the hypothalamus and the anterior cingulate cortex, all areas involved in stress and emotion regulation.”
Massage has been shown to decrease cortisol (a stress hormone) levels and helps calm our nervous system by encouraging our physiological "relaxation response."
So what does that really mean?
In addition to helping manage physical pain, tension, and discomfort (which can negatively impact mental health), moderate pressure massage also talks to our nervous system and works with the chemical messengers of our body to work towards a more relaxed state.
Massage has been shown to help with depression and anxiety as freestanding disorders and as a part of chronic diseases.
The mental health effects of massage therapy are valid reasons to seek out care. These relaxation benefits can occur in conjunction to pain relief.
Sources:
Field T. (2014). Massage therapy research review. Complementary therapies in clinical practice, 20(4), 224–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2014.07.002
Wen-Hsuan Hou, MD, MSc; Pai-Tsung Chiang, MD, MPH; Tun-Yen Hsu, MD; Su-Ying Chiu, BA; and Yung-Chieh Yen, MD, MSc, PhD
