Anxiety in Traditional Chinese Medicine
In a Western world where scientific medicine becomes a very long protocol, Chinese medicine is the one of health, the prevention, the effort, the overcoming of problems such as depression.
For oriental doctors, the diagnosis, especially in the tongue and pulse, will allow identification and differentiation of the syndrome. It is the step prior to beginning therapy and more effective treatment in each case.
Chinese medicine can find, empirically, the relationship between mental disorders and bodily functions; it treats excess of emotion and balances functions between organs and viscera partners:
Spleen and Stomach (concern)
Psychic abilities to analyze reality, to determine whether two situations are different or similar, powers of deduction, conscious decision, to remember past experiences to assess the present.
Excessive worry, obsessions, fixed ideas, memories that cannot be erased or occur continuously, preventing to live fully the intensity of the moment, the tendency to link concepts and be consistent, the self-control, fears, good faith, honesty are psychological situations that are included in spleen / stomach.
Liver and Gallbladder (anger)
The defense instinctive responses are supported by this pair. The instinct of "fight" or "flight" is engraved unconsciously in the liver and gallbladder, nervous system, and tendino-muscular system is prepared for a reaction of attack or defense against an external danger.
Impulsivity, daring, extraversion, aggressiveness, irritability, discontent and disinterested kindness are associated with this couple.
Lung and large intestine (sadness)
Keep largely hereditary memory, in addition to physical and psychological pain experienced throughout the life cycle. You can respond positively or negatively to psychological stress.
Melancholy, anxiety, introversion, regrets, desires and vulnerability to changes pertain to the lung and large intestine.
Kidney and bladder (fear)
It is the residence of force, partly learned and partly inherited, which encourages the whole psyche.
It appears with the intelligence, the will, malice, cunning, wisdom, fear, spontaneity, the ability to desire, to withdraw into yourself.
Heart and small intestine (joy and pain)
The psychic world understands the mental activity in general, the ability to view, the ethical courage, respect for convenience, the ability to grow internally, the seriousness, the ability to laugh, pain, doubt, and enjoy .
The emotions are harmful when they are experienced too much or for too long. For Chinese medicine, emotional factors are an important part of the root causes of disease. To prevent excessive emotional need:
- Be aware of the main psychological type to which you belong (kidney, lung, etc.), and throughout the year, regulate it based on acupuncture and appropriate food and plants.
- Be aware of the emotion that is in excess for a long time, paying attention to the fact that should not necessarily belong to the basic type in which we recognize.
- You must find time and ways to express the emotion you have inside, talking about it with friends, writing, painting, etc.
- Anxiety is the manifestation of any emotional maladjustment.
Chinese medicine is effective against anxiety, without taking psychotropic drugs.
Types of anxiety in Chinese Medicine
We distinguish 4 types of anxiety:
1. Of renal origin: the kidney is not in harmony with the heart and liver. In the first phase, it will manifest oppression and fullness in the chest, pain in the area of the heart, tachycardia, confused mind, red eyes and heaviness in the head. Without intervention, it enters the second phase, characterized by diffuse bone pain, psychological fatigue, frigidity or impotence, loss of sexual desire, heavy legs and swollen ankles. The two phases can occur simultaneously. You should invigorate the kidney and soothe the disharmony between heart and liver with bitter-tasting foods.
2. Of pulmonary origin: people are most likely to have this type of anxiety. Symptoms include physical exhaustion, emptiness, weak breath and voice, facial pallor, brittle hair, frequent colds, sadness. Chinese herbal medicine, sour and spicy food and moxa are effective remedies to treat it.
3. Originated in the liver: The bellicose, aggressive, bold and courageous temperaments are the expression of hepatic force. However, dissatisfaction, irritation, envy and anger, for a long time harm and cause anxiety that is characterized by a generalized state of nervous tension, irritability, insomnia, intermittent headache, flushed face, ringing in the ears, high blood. Chinese medicine is useful to calm the liver. You must deal with plants, power sourness, moxa and micro-massage.
4. Stomach and spleen source: The stomach receives and breaks food, the spleen directs its processing and distribution. This type of anxiety is due to excessive worry, the incessant mental rumination, a diet too rich in fats or raw vegetables. The symptoms also manifest shortcomings in many other organs, kidney failure, anxiety, amnesia, heart failure, depression and irritability due to liver failure, loss of appetite, fatigue and swollen stomach after eating. Chinese medicine strengthens the spleen and stomach.
Dolors Vilamitjana
European Foundation of TCM – School of TCM – Guang An Men Clinics