【Dr. Huang’s Integrative Medicine Case Series · Case 1】 A 17-Year-Old Kiwi Girl Who Was Misdiagnosed by the System

She was a 17-year-old Kiwi girl, recently graduated from high school.
Over the past year, her condition had gradually deteriorated.

She felt exhausted every day, often going straight to bed after school.
She experienced daily abdominal pain and diarrhea, frequently needing to use the bathroom.
Her facial acne worsened significantly, and she became reluctant to see people.
She felt low in mood, easily irritated, and argued frequently with her mother.
She lost interest in school and her future, clearly stating that she did not want to continue studying.

Her mother was deeply concerned.
At this age, she should have been expanding outward—full of energy and curiosity.
Instead, she seemed to be withdrawing inward, both physically and emotionally.

They had consulted family doctors and psychologists.
The explanations were familiar:

Stress-related issues, emotional problems, no major medical disease.

She had been hearing these words for more than a year.

If viewed superficially, this girl could easily be labeled as having:

• Fatigue

• Abdominal pain and diarrhea

• Acne

• Low mood

• School avoidance

• Parent–child conflict

• Uncertainty about the future

Within the current medical system, patients like her are often quickly categorized as having:

• Psychological problems / depressive tendencies

• Functional bowel disorders (IBS)

• Pubertal hormonal imbalance

• Adolescent rebellion

The result is usually the same:
a great deal of explanation, very little effective intervention, and minimal real improvement.

 Why “Calling It a Psychological Problem” Often Makes Things Worse

Between the ages of 16 and 20, there is a critical but frequently overlooked trap.

Once a doctor tells a patient:

“You don’t have a disease. This is psychological.”

the patient’s defensive system is immediately activated.

For this girl, that message translated into:

• I am not being taken seriously.

• My suffering is being denied.

• This is being interpreted as “I’m making it up.”

• I’m not strong enough or not trying hard enough.

This is not reassurance.
It is a form of implicit invalidation.

That is why my first clinical decision in this case was crucial:

I did not deny that she was ill.

I told her clearly:

• This is not laziness.

• This is not weakness.

• This is not a lack of effort.

• Your nervous system and endocrine system are genuinely dysregulated.

This step was not comfort.
It was the removal of resistance.

Only after the defensive system is deactivated can true treatment begin.

 My Core Clinical Judgment

When she first sat in front of me, I did not struggle with labels:

• Was this Chinese medicine or Western medicine?

• Psychological or functional disease?

One thing was clear to me:

Her nervous system had been under prolonged high load,
and her endocrine and immune regulatory systems were clearly dysregulated,
resulting in a near-total loss of self-regulation capacity.

In this state:

• The gut is the first system to break down

• The skin begins to react

• Energy and motivation shut down

• Emotions become irritable

• Behavior shifts toward avoidance and withdrawal

This was not a personality issue, nor was it a matter of “overthinking.”
It was a real, whole-system medical problem.

What Actually Worked: Not Technique, but a Signal

From the beginning, I was very clear:

What worked was not a specific acupuncture point or technique.

What truly mattered was the signal.

She entered the clinic.
She lay down.
She was listened to seriously and treated with respect.
Her body received a clear message:

The systems are beginning to reconnect and return to coordinated function.

In this context, acupuncture functioned as a physically perceptible medical signal,
rather than a purely technical intervention.

Clinical Progression

• After the first treatment: she felt noticeably lighter.

• At the second visit: abdominal pain and diarrhea had largely resolved, energy improved significantly, acne began to subside.

• At the third visit: she told me she had gone hiking with her classmates for an entire day. Her acne had almost disappeared, and her long-absent smile had returned.

This indicated that her systems were back online.

Why I Chose to Stop Treatment

I told her clearly:

“You are well now. You do not need further treatment.”

For a 17-year-old, continued treatment can mean continued identification as a “patient.”

The true marker of successful treatment is not repeated adjustment,
but knowing when to remove the patient identity.

She smiled.
Her mother relaxed.
She even joked:

“Then I guess it’s my mum’s turn next.”

Final Reflection

At this stage of my career, it has become clear to me that what I do can no longer be neatly divided into Chinese medicine or Western medicine.

Not because of intentional integration,
but because real diseases do not present along disciplinary boundaries.

In this case:

• Nervous system

• Emotions

• Gut

• Skin

• Behavior and motivation

were always part of one integrated whole.

Acupuncture was simply one tool for bringing the system back online.