Stick It To Depression Blog
Resources to help manage depression or anxiety and increase your peace and joy.
The Burnout Crisis In Australia And The Case For Consistent Whole-Person Care
Every year, on the second Saturday of June, something meaningful happens across the globe. Global Wellness Day brings together millions of people in over 100 countries around a simple but powerful idea: that wellbeing deserves intentional attention. June 13th marks...
Reading a Person as a Whole: Why I Use Three Body Maps in Consultation
Early in my career as a GP, I worked from one map. The Western medical model. Blood tests, imaging, and structural pathology. Find what's wrong, name it, treat it. It's a precise, evidence-based framework that saves lives. I still use it every single day. But after...
Supporting Patients Through Opioid Withdrawal: A Role for Acupuncture
I still remember this one patient who came to me for widespread osteoarthritis. She'd been on strong opioid painkillers for years, not because she was careless, but because she was in genuine pain and her prescription made sense at the time. Her story is one I've...
Can Acupuncture Help With Perimenopause Symptoms?
Perimenopause is a natural transition, but that doesn’t mean it always feels straightforward. For many women, the signs arrive gradually. Poor sleep here, a short fuse there… until one day it becomes clear that something is shifting. By the time many women arrive at...
Long-Term Antidepressant Use Is Rising: How Acupuncturists Can Support Without Overstepping
You might think antidepressants are a short-term bridge. A few months to get someone through the worst of it… then a careful review… then a plan. But that isn’t what’s happening for many Australians. In late 2025, a study from the University of South Australia (UniSA)...
Acupuncture for Generalised Anxiety Disorder: What the Research Shows
Over the years, as a GP and acupuncturist, I’ve watched more and more patients arrive in my clinic with this kind of chronic, free-floating anxiety. Many have already tried medication. Many have done their best with therapy. Some have done both, and still feel stuck...
When Saying Yes To Everything Leads To Holiday Burnout (And How Acupuncture Can Help)
There’s a moment in early December that I see every year in the clinic. A patient comes in, drops into the chair, and gives a tired but polite smile. Their words sound light: “It’s just the busy season.” Yet, their shoulders tell a different story. The breath is held...
What Actually Happens in Your Body During Acupuncture? The Science of Release
“All that internal dialogue quietened right down… like someone pressed mute on the chaos in my head.” “I walked out of your clinic feeling like I’d just remembered who I was.” My patients often made these comments during our acupuncture sessions. This sensation of...
The Symptom Is the Signal: Why Pain May Be Your Body’s Hidden Messenger
The Symptom Is the Signal: Why Pain May Be Your Body’s Hidden Messenger The most natural human response to pain is to get rid of it. It could be the persistent ache in your stomach, the heaviness of depression, or the tightness you carry in your chest… who wouldn’t...
What Comes After Healing? Acupuncture’s Role in Rebuilding Identity Post-Depression
You’d think that feeling better would feel better. But for many people recovering from long-term depression, healing comes with its own kind of disorientation. The symptoms may ease, the heaviness isn’t as constant, the numbness starts to fade, and in their place is a...
About Dr. Alex
Dr. Alex Joannou is the leading global expert on depression and acupuncture, an award-winning speaker, 2x #1 best-selling author, and highly accredited GP. His 40-year medical career spans 300,000 patient consultations and over 35,000 acupuncture treatments. Dr. Alex trains acupuncture practitioners globally to “Stick It To Depression” using Transformational Acupuncture.