Emotions & TCM

[Guest guest]

An all too common scenario in the U.S. is for patients to be told by

their doctors that their health problems are " psychological " and then

either be given a prescription for a psychoactive drug or referred to

a psychiatrist for this presciption. While it's true that some

health problems can have psychological roots, it's also true that

many physical health problems have psychological symptoms. Examples

include the anxiety that asthmatics feel (because they can't

breathe), the depression that people with mononucleosis feel (this is

a virus-caused depression and no amount of psychoactive drugs or

talking it out is going to help it - only bringing the infection

under control), the anger felt by people in chronic pain, etc.

 

All too often in the U.S., the fact that the emotion-body connection

is a two-way street is forgotten. It has not been forgotten in TCM.

There is no division between mind-body-emotion-spirit in TCM. It's

taken for granted that " physical " health problems will have emotional

overlays just as it's taken for granted that " psychological " problems

also will be accompanied by physical health problems.

 

The TCM model is more sophisticated than just the idea that emotional

problems cause the physical health problems (or even the

psychological problems being caused by the physical health

problems). The two are seen as manifestations of the same Root.

What's causing the psychological problems also is causing the

physical problems. The Root imbalance has both physical and

psychological manifestations.

 

But TCM goes beyond recognizing that a particular imbalance can have

both physical and emotioinal manifestations. TCM also recognizes

that once imbalance in a particular Organ has occurred from whatever

initial cause - physical or emotional, the person is going to be more

prone to experiencing the particular emotion(s) associated with that

particular Organ. For example, a person with Kidney imbalance is

going to be more prone to feeling fear than a person without Kidney

imbalance. A person with Liver imbalance is going to be more prone

to feeling anger than a person without Liver imbalance. Etc. These

can be " snowballing " situations. Like a snowball that gets bigger as

it rolls down a hill and picks up more snow as it goes, the increased

tendency to anger can produce more anger which in turn damages the

Liver even more which in turn generates even more anger which in turn

unbalances the Liver still more, and so on. A prominent emotion in

TCM is not a reason in and of itself to refer a client to a

psychologist or counselor. A prominent emotion is first and foremost

diagnostic. For example, if the person appears angry, suspect and

rule in or rule out Liver imbalance and/or chronic pain.

(Considering that the most common Liver imbalance is Liver Qi

Stagnation and Qi Stagnation often manifests as pain, the two often

(but not always) are manifestations of the same Root, the Liver Qi

Stagnation.)

 

Does this mean that TCM healers never refer clients to a counselor or

psychologist? No. Sometimes an individual requires this treatment

in order to completely heal and avoid future problems. The

difference between TCM and Western establishment medicine is that TCM

does not promote doing nothing and does not recognize an artificial

barrier between emotions and body. It's taken for granted that there

will be both physical and emotional manifestations in any imbalance,

and it is recognized that once an imbalance has taken place, the

person is going to be more prone to feeling a particular emotion. The

TCM healer will do what he or she can do to correct the imbalance at

the same time as the counselor or psychologist is completing the

healing team. To put this another way, it's far easier for a person

to face things the person would rather not face and deal with and

learn new approaches to life if the person also is being strengthened

by having the TCM imbalance addressed via herbs and/or

acupuncture /acupressure/ massage. It can mean the difference between

say overwhelming fear and fear that can be faced, acknowledged, dealt

with, and finally resolved. It can mean the difference between

successful talk therapy and unsuccessful therapy. Likewise, in some

cases, in order to finally free the person from the Kidney imbalance

and the tendency to Kidney imbalance, it may be necessary for the

person to see a psychologist or counselor in order to face and deal

with some things. Otherwise, the unresolved issues will continue to

generate future Kidney imbalance.

 

The TCM understanding of the emotion-body(-mind-spirit) connection is

far more sophisticated than that of the Western medical

establishment. TCM promotes a very holistic outlook.

 

Victoria