Addiction and TCM

[Guest guest]

Hello,

 

I'm curious about TCM and its view on addiction (food, alcohol, etc.).

What is TCM's view on the source of addiction and can it help?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Guest guest]

Hi Papaya:

 

Without going into the technical details of Shen

disturbance, TCM does have methods to help most

addictions, including quitting smoking. My

acupuncturist used points on the feet and wrists, as

well as applying seeds to auricular points.

 

There are methods to help stop the craving for

alcohol.

 

There are even methods to help heroin addicts, see Bob

Flaws' articles on this subject.

 

As to source of addiction, my view is that addiction

in many cases occurs over an underlying psychological

problem. TCM's Ghost points cover many of these mental

illnesses.

 

In my own case I suffer from withdrawal, or Dian Kuang

in Chinese, as a result of a poor family upbringing

and my parents' divorce at age 10. Later, well-meaning

mentors insisted that I drink alcohol to overcome the

withdrawal. This led to alcohol addiction.

 

My feeling is that in general, western

medicine/psychiatry lacks the sophisticated

understanding of these underlying causes that TCM

excels at. IMO many of these addictions begin with

early childhood problems. TCM has names and cures for

many of these, which western medicine barely

addresses.

 

Lonny Jarret talks about many of these in his books,

worth looking into.

 

Regards, Jack

 

--- applesnpapaya <applesnpapaya wrote:

 

> Hello,

>

> I'm curious about TCM and its view on addiction

> (food, alcohol, etc.).

> What is TCM's view on the source of addiction and

> can it help?

>

> Thanks in advance!

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

________

DSL – Something to write home about.

Just $16.99/mo. or less.

dsl.

[Guest guest]

Because I'm originally from the southeast part of the US, the use of

kudzu in treating aloholism fascinates me. For readers who have

never been to the SE US, kudzu is a very invasive weed vine. It was

brought to this country because someone thought it would make good

feed for cows. The cows don't like it and won't eat it, and it

rapidly spread in the SE, taking over fields and vacant buildings.

It's very common in the SE to ride by fields and vacant buildings

that have been taken over entirely by this invasive plant that

seemed to have no use whatsoever. The fact that it actually does

have a use fascinates me.

 

The last I heard it's not known if the variety brought to the US is

the one that has particular properties. I believe some researchers

from North Carolina State University are comparing the kudzu in the

SE US to different varieties in China. (BTW, NCSU is a good source

of info on growing various herbs as a business.)

 

> My feeling is that in general, western

> medicine/psychiatry lacks the sophisticated

> understanding of these underlying causes that TCM

> excels at. IMO many of these addictions begin with

> early childhood problems. TCM has names and cures for

> many of these, which western medicine barely

> addresses.

 

This is something I want to stress for the list members who are new

to TCM. The TCM understanding of the mind-body (-emotions-spirit)

connection is a lot more sophisticated than in the West. The Chinese

don't differentiate between these aspects in the way that many

Westerners do, but I do because most of the readers on the list are

not from TCM countries. The Chinese take it for granted that there

are going to be what Westerners call physical, mental, emotional,

and " spiritual " manifestations from an imbalance.

 

For those new to TCM: TCM is far more concerned with identifying and

treating causes (Roots) than Western allopathic medicine is. There

are many possible manifestations of any imbalance. If one treats a

symptom but doesn't treat the Root, the underlying imbalance is

going to continue to get worse and manifest in other ways. Also, as

the Root gets stronger because it's not treated, in time, the drug

may cease to be effective in controlling whatever it was prescribed

to control. In TCM, the underlying imbalance is called the " Root " ,

and the manifestation is called the " Branch " . A Root can have many

Branches. Some of these may be what people in the West call

physical, some emotional, some mental, and some " spiritual " .

 

One of the best examples of this are the severe mental illnesses -

the psychoses. It's no coincidence that people who are psychotic

also tend to have severe and serious physical health problems. The

severe psychological problems and the severe physical health

problems are coming from the same Root(s). The psychological

Branches may manifest earlier than the physical Branches or vice

versa or at the same time, but eventually, if the Root is left

untreated, a wide range of Branches manifest.

 

The Chinese also see what Westerners call the " mind-body " connection

as very much a two-way street. (Remember, they aren't really

differenciating between the two.) In the US, we hear a lot

about " emotions " making people physically ill. (I'm simplifying

here.) All too often at best only lip-service is given to the fact

that physical illnesses can and often will have pyschological

components. This problem has gotten particularly bad in the US. So

bad that two writers actually wrote a book called Ill, Not Insane

that goes into the psychological manifestations of various physical

illnesses. (Please keep in mind that the Chinese aren't making the

differenciation between " physical " and " mental " illnesses in the way

that Westerners do.) All too often in the US physical symptoms are

ignored or attributed to emotions, and the patient is given

psychotropic drugs and/or some kind of therapy. As a result, the

physical health problems continue to get worse and worse, and

sometimes the person dies as a result.

 

It didn't use to be this way in the US. In the past doctors and

nurses were trained to use emotions in diagnosis. For example, if a

person appears or acts unusually angry, suspect that the person is

in pain. People who are in pain frequently will be grouchy and even

angry.

 

If the patient appears unusually anxious, suspect that the person

may have mild, untreated, and undiagnosed asthma. It very common for

people with mild asthma to not realize consciously that they are

having breathing problems. But they realize it subconciously, and

hence, the anxiety. What usually sends people with mild,

undiagnosed, and untreated asthma to the doctor is they develop

fatigue easier than they used to.

 

Western allopathic medicine lost a lot when it stopped looking at

emotions as diagnostic of physical illnesses in many cases. This was

never lost in TCM. Not only was this never lost, the TCM

understanding of the physical-mental-emotion-spiritual connection is

far more sophisticated than anything that Western allopathic

medicine has ever had.

 

TCM recognizes that each Organ is particularly vulnerable to one or

more emotions. For example, the Kidneys are particular vulnerable to

fear and fright, the Liver to anger and frustration, the Spleen to

pensiveness, the Lungs to grief and letting go issues, and the Heart

to " joy " (mania - " joy " is a poor translation IMO) to name a few of

the emotions. (Please keep in mind that TCM Organs are not

equivalent to anatomical organs but are defined as collections of

functions.)

 

Now here's where it gets really sophisticated. TCM recognizes that

once an Organ is imbalanced, the person is going to be more prone to

feeling the particular emotions associated with that Organ. This in

turn causes the imbalance to be worse which causes the person to be

more inclined to feel those particular emotions, and so on.

It " snowballs " if not treated. Like a small snowball gets bigger and

bigger as it's rolled in the snow. It doesn't matter what the

original " trigger " was - physical trauma (accident or surgery),

viral, bacterial, fungal, weather, toxin, emotional, poor diet,

overwork, etc. - once the imbalance occurs, the person is going to

be more prone to feeling the emotion(s) associated with that Organ,

and it snowballs over time.

 

For the beginning TCM students on the list: What's the connection

between anger and pain, and the TCM association of anger with the

Liver? The Liver has the most to do with the smooth and even flow of

Qi in the body. One of the things that can cause pain is Qi

Stagnation.

 

Later on, when you're treating clients, any time you see someone who

has a chronic illness, suspect and rule in or rule out Liver

imbalance. In addition to anger being associated with the Liver, so

is frustration, and chronic illness can be very, very frustrating.

The person may or may not have had Liver imbalance before becoming

sick, but after months and years of a chronic illness and the

frustrations it brings, the person very likely will develop Liver

imbalance because of feeling frustrated so often and so long. I say

rule it in or out because this won't be 100%. Some people even with

chronic illnesses handle emotions very well, and the Liver imbalance

doesn't develop. Also keep in mind that there will be times when you

can't adequately treat or cure a TCM imbalance and allopathic

doctors won't be able to cure or adequately treat the person. In

these cases you can at least help by helping the person keep the

Liver imbalance and tendency to feel frustration to a minimum.

 

It's not emotions per se that can trigger or worsen Organ imbalance

but the mishandling of them. If a person believes that s/he must

never feel a particular emotion in order to be healthy physically

and spiritually, the person is mishandling emotion. The person is

suppressing and denying. Overexpressing an emotion is mishandling

it. For example, going ballistic when a simple " that makes me

angry, I don't like that, stop " would suffice. Substituting one

emotion for another also is mishandling emotion. For example,

because fear is a much more threatening emotion to some people than

anger is, the person seizes on anger as a way of avoiding facing how

afraid s/he may be. Sometimes getting angry instead of afraid is the

appropriate emotion. But when the person routinely does this instead

of just admitting to fear, it's inappropriate.

 

Some people who are bothered more by feeling anger than sadness will

substitute sadness for anger. This is one of the causes of

depression. (Not the only possible cause of depression, but one of

them.)

 

Very strong and sudden emotions are likely to trigger imbalance.

Also keep in mind that emotions tend to be more overwhelming to

children than to adults. When adults are in therapy and have to go

back and face certain events in their lives that happened when they

were children, they frequently will re-experience the event and the

emotion(s) not as the adult they became with an adult's coping

strategies but as the child they once were. It's as though a part of

the person got split off and frozen back then. It may be 2005 for

the adult they became, but for a part of them it's still 1960- or

1970-something or whenever they were children.