Welcome to New Members (Depression)

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> What is the efficacy of TCM in the treatment of clinical

depression, and how long

> does it typically take?

 

This will vary according to the Root imbalance(s).

 

You didn't mention how much, if any, of a familiarity you already

have with TCM, so I'm going to write this as though the reader is

completely new to TCM.

 

TCM is more concerned with identifying and treating causes than in

treating symptoms. The particular imbalance which is giving rise to

various emotional and physical symptoms are called Roots. (Common

English words with special meaning in TCM are capitalized.)

 

Western diagnoses rarely correspond to TCM diagnoses. The Western

diagnosis of depression can have one or more TCM imbalances. Thus,

what helps one person who is depressed may do nothing for a second,

and may even worsen the depression of another because each of the

three individuals have different TCM imbalances. Therefore, the

treatment for each has to be different.

 

There is a very good basic book on depression called Curing

Depression Naturally with by Rosa N. Schnyer and Bob

Flaws, Blue Poppy Press, ISBN 0-936185-94-5. The book lists the

various sympoms and signs of some of the more common TCM imbalances

which can manifest as depression. It gives some of the proper

formulas for each imbalance.

 

I'm going to list 9 of the more common imbalances that the book

lists. If you don't have basic knowledge of TCM, these are going to

be meaningless to you. So, I'm going to try and give a crash course

into understanding some of these. The information is taken from the

Schnyer-Flaws book:

 

1. Liver depression qi stagnation

2. Liver depression transforms heat.

 

Qi, also spelled ch'i, pronounced " chee " , is roughly translated as

energy. Qi circulates around the body in pathways called meridians,

aka channels. Qi is supposed to flow smoothly. The Organ most

concerned with Qi flow is the Liver. If for any of a variety of

reasons, the Liver is not able to do its job and becomes constrained

(depressed), Qi will Stagnate. Sometimes the Stagnation will cause

Heat to build up (transforms heat).

 

Each of the Organs is particularly vulnerable to one or more

emotions, and imblance in the Organ will prime the person to

experience this particular emotion or emotions more than usual. The

Liver is particularly vulnerable to anger and frustration. Whenever

a person appears angry or frustrated, suspect Liver imbalance and

rule in or rule out.

 

If Liver imbalance is a Root of depression, this is a person who also

will tend to be very irritable as well as being depressed. Other

symptoms which point to the person having a Liver imbalance can

include things like pain in the sides, swollen and tender breasts in

women and verious PMS symptoms, nausea and vomiting, belching and

burping, the chest feeling oppressed, a feeling like a stone in the

throat and an inability to swallow, and a tendency to sigh a lot.

 

If the Qi Stagnation is creating Heat, there will be additional

symptoms and signs like possible tinnitus, headache, red eyes, dry

mouth, constipation characterized by hard and dry stools, etc.

 

The book goes into more detail on these.

 

To be continued.

 

Victoria