Epilepsy & TCM & Bipolar

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Jack Sweeney

Chinese Traditional Medicine

Monday, November 20, 2006 8:59 AM

Re: [Chinese Traditional Medicine] Epilepsy & TCM

 

 

 

In Chinese medicine, epilepsy is closely related to

mania and withdrawal, so the acupoints used to treat

them are similar, as are the herbal formulas.

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Marlene:

 

If your husband is having suicidal thoughts, you

should try to contact a local agency that helps with

such issues right away.

 

You wrote:

 

" in meditation, I keep seeing my husbands body with

> the " soul " half way out of the

> body..............can someone tell me, would bipolar

> people at some point in their lives, be trying

> to " escape " their body, in a sense....????

>

 

In Chinese medicine, there is the concept that, under

certain conditions, the " hun " or soul becomes restless

and begins to wander. In this sense, you are quite

correct about what you have seen in meditation.

 

I need to do some research and then will get back to

you, but please do try to seek some local help.

 

Kind regards, Jack

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Marlene:

 

For your convenience I've written out two definitions

of the corporeal soul and the ethereal soul.

 

Above those, there is a link to the website for

Chinese Medical Psychiatry by Bob Flaws, which

contains many more articles that you may find

relevant.

 

Kind regards, Jack

 

http://chinesemedicalpsychiatry.com/

 

Corporeal Soul: Synonym ¨C animal soul. A nonphysical

aspect of the human being. Po is the corporeal soul

stored by the lung, as distinct from hun, the ethereal

soul, stored by the liver. The Magic Pivot (Ling Shu)

states, ¡°that which enters and exists with essence is

called the corporeal soul.¡± The Classified Canon (Lei

Jing) states, ¡°The function of the corporeal soul is

to enable the body to move and perform its function,

pain and itching are felt by it.¡± These descriptions

suggest that the corporeal soul is the animating and

sensitizing principle that gives humans the ability of

movement and physical sensation. The ability of the

newborn to cry and to take milk is understood as the

manifestation of the corporeal soul. The corporeal

soul is believed to be closely related to essence,

which in the traditional view, is the foundation of

human life.¡±

 

Ethereal Soul: hun. A nonphysical aspect of the human

being sadi to be stored by the liver, as distinct from

the po, the corporeal soul, said to be stored by the

lung. The Magic Pivot (Ling Shu) states, ¡°That which

goes hither and thither with the spirit is called the

ethereal soul¡­the liver stores the blood, and the

blood houses the ethereal soul.¡± When the liver fails

to store the blood or liver blood is insufficient,

there are signs such as sleep walking and sleep

talking. This condition is sometimes called the

¡°ethereal soul failing to be stored.¡±

 

(From Wiseman and Ye)

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Thanks so much Jack & tikvacohen for your replies on bipolar.

They are very helpful and the link you provided Jack has lots there for me to

read up on.....

My husband is not currently taking any med's and is not interested in them, so

we are looking into the alternatives that has shown improvements. Stress seems

to be a real trigger for him and Reiki has assisted him in removing that load of

stress....for now anyway.

We have started using the St. Johns Wort and was told by a local naturopath to

check into hoodia for the moodswings.........Im not sure about hoodia, as I hear

it is used mostly for weight loss and he only weighs about 145 lbs

anyway...........

 

Again, thanks for the info you sent.

blessings, Marlene

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Marlene,

Jack is quite right in seeking help right away.

But a medial or TCM professional is the one to go to ASAP.

Is he on any medication.

The internet is wonderful for exploring ertain issues but not in this case,

Seek professional help now.

Jack Sweeney <mojavecowboy wrote:

Marlene:

 

If your husband is having suicidal thoughts, you

should try to contact a local agency that helps with

such issues right away.

 

You wrote:

 

" in meditation, I keep seeing my husbands body with

> the " soul " half way out of the

> body..............can someone tell me, would bipolar

> people at some point in their lives, be trying

> to " escape " their body, in a sense....????

>

 

In Chinese medicine, there is the concept that, under

certain conditions, the " hun " or soul becomes restless

and begins to wander. In this sense, you are quite

correct about what you have seen in meditation.

 

I need to do some research and then will get back to

you, but please do try to seek some local help.

 

Kind regards, Jack

 

________

 

Everyone is raving about the all-new Mail beta.

http://new.mail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sponsored Link

 

Mortgage rates near 39yr lows. $510,000 Mortgage for $1,698/mo - Calculate new

house payment

 

 

[Guest guest]

Marlene, I'm no expert on TCM & all the different ways it can benefit us or

even what it can or can't help. For example, if a person broke their leg,

getting acupuncture & herbal remedies would NOT make everything heal

properly. It would help, of course, but the bone would need to be set

conventionally first & immobilised for a while. To what extent TCM can

control mental-emotional disorders, I don't know but I know it can help.

 

But I know that bipolar disorder has a strong genetic component to it. In

famous people who've been bipolar, family history has been traced & affected

individuals have been found in a number of generations. Some other mental

disorders also have a genetic component. This genetic component is referred

to in TCM medicine as the inherited Qi. This is the result of what we get

from our parents - from the Qi in the sperm & egg & something we carry

throughout life with us. We can strengthen & supplement this Qi with Qi from

external sources.

 

I've been diagnosed as having clinical depression. I have no problems with

self-esteem (figure I have a pretty healthy awareness of my strengths &

limitations), don't feel burdened by guilt, & haven't had any severe

emotional problems that may have triggered it. In fact, thinking back to my

childhood, I'm aware of it always being in the background. I'm still taking

conventional medications for this but hope, by next summer, to not need them

any longer. But I know the dangers of stopping any suddenly & know how

rapidly I sink into black, angry despair even while part of my mind is fully

aware that there's no cause for it & nothing has changed outside of myself.

So I feel I can speak from experience. Bipolar disorder is quite different

than ordinary clinical depression though but similarities in some

chemical-hormonal balance in the mind.

 

With treatment for my migraines, many other things improved to my surprise,

among them my inner focus & my mood. So I can attest to TCM having a strong

benefit mentally. But rather than treat only for bipolar, it would be better

to balance everything in the body as one system affects the others.

Everything needs to be balanced & in harmony. Then, the physical self is in

harmony with the inner self.

 

As for bipolar causing a person to try to escape their body, what mental

imbalances can do is cause altered mental states. I'm not sure what or why my

inherited Qi is the way it is but I have a host of annoying neurological

problems. One of them is mild Todd syndrome (also called Alice-in-Wonderland

syndrome). It's an altered perception of what your sense tell you. Your

senses - vision, hearing, smell, touch, etc - are perfectly normal but the

brain interprets them somewhat differently when it's happening. The

medication I take for depression also corrects this & some of the symptoms of

narcolepsy which I also have. Obviously, whatever imbalance there is in me,

it's affecting differently parts of my brain.

 

I would NEVER suggest someone stop medications suddenly or without a doctor's

supervision. But I feel TCM can do wonders for our mental states, not just

our physical side. After all, mental states are a manifestation of our

physical brain. It may be with disorders from inherited Qi that one could

never be fully cured but would need treatment, though not as frequently as

initially, for the rest of their life. Still, far better than the

alternative.

 

Some of what's written about depression does NOT apply to someone who's

bipolar (it can be very different) but this site specifically addresses

bipolar disorder in light of TCM. It may hold some helpful info for you.

http://tcm.health-info.org/Common

Diseases/Bipolar.htm#_Bipolar_Manic_Depressive_Psychosis_

I've had friends who are bipolar & am aware of how different it can be even

though it sometimes seems very similar.

 

Judy

 

On Monday 20 November 2006 9:17 am, MarleneLawson wrote:

> __,Are these benefitical for bipolar also?? it seems my husband is in

> advanced stages of bipolar, finally after going to doc's for over 25 years

> and telling him nothing was wrong, NOW they say it is

> bipolar................but now he is cycling once a week and the depression

> is giving him suicidal thoughts, altho he says he would never act on

> them.........

> I am desperately seeking help in what ever way I can, I began last night

> with giving him a Reiki treatment.............any ideas as far as herbs, or

> acupressure points to use would be great!

>

> I'm interested in Victoria's TCM perspective as to " what " is happening

> energetically with these disorders.................in meditation, I keep

> seeing my husbands body with the " soul " half way out of the

> body..............can someone tell me, would bipolar people at some point

> in their lives, be trying to " escape " their body, in a sense....????

>

> just trying to get some perspective on this disorder and bring peace to

> my family once again,

> blessings, Marlene

[Guest guest]

Marlene posted:

>

> " in meditation, I keep seeing my husbands body with

> > the " soul " half way out of the

> > body..............can someone tell me, would bipolar

> > people at some point in their lives, be trying

> > to " escape " their body, in a sense....????

> >

 

Jack replied:

>

> In Chinese medicine, there is the concept that, under

> certain conditions, the " hun " or soul becomes restless

> and begins to wander. In this sense, you are quite

> correct about what you have seen in meditation.

>

That was my immediate thought too.

 

I want to post some additional info on the Ethereal Soul from

Giovanni Maciocia, The Foundations of :

 

" The Ethereal Soul is said to influence the capacity of planning our

life and find a sense of direction in life. A lack of direction in

life and mental confusion could be compared to the wandering of the

Ethereal Soul alone in space and time. Thus, if the Liver (in

particular Liver-Blood_ is flourishing, the Ethereal Soul is firmly

rooted and can help us to plan our life with wisdom and vision. If

Liver-Blood is weak, the Ethereal Soul is not rooted and cannot give

us a sense of direction in life. If Liver-Blood or Liver-Yin is

very weak, at times the Ethereal Soul may even leave the body

temporarily at night during sleep or just before going to sleep.

Those who suffer from severe deficiency of Yin may experience a

sesation as if they were floating in the few moments just before

fallng asleep: this is said to be due to the 'floating' of the

Ethereal Soul not rooted in Blood and Yin.

 

" The Ethereal Soul is also related to resoluteness and a vague

feeling of fear at night before falling asleep is also said to be

due to a lack of rooting of the Ethereal Souls.

 

" The 'Discussion on Blood Diseases' says: 'If Liver-Blood is

deficient Fire agitates the Ethereal Soult resulting in nocturnal

emissions with dreams'. This confirms that the Ethereal Soul can

become unrooted at night when Blood or Yin are deficient. " (p. 81,

lst. ed.)

 

Regardless if one believes in things like astral projection or not,

the bottom line is that if an individual is Liver Blood and Liver

Yin Deficient and having symptoms like this, if the Liver Blood

and/or Liver Yin Deficiency are treated, the symptoms disappear.

BTW, if a client reports a fear of going to bed at night, strongly

suspect Liver Blood and/or Liver Yin Deficiency and rule in or rule

out. Never mind the terminology or explanation, it's the results

that count.

 

I also want to say something about meditation and visualization. One

of the things which to me is so astounding about the use of

meditation and visualization in healing is that even people with no

knowledge of anatomy and physiology or only high school biology

knowledge often will pick very apt symbols. One example that stands

out for me is a woman with a very stubborn infection who visualized

white soap bubbles pouring out of a long tube. The symbolism of the

white soap bubbles is easy to interpret: White blood cells. White

blood cells play a very important role in fighting infection. But

the symbolism of the long pipe is a bit more difficult until one

realizes that certain white blood cells are manufactured in the long

bones.

 

There also are people whose regular senses pick up a great deal of

information which they don't consciously note but the subconscious

puts together and presents to them in dreams or meditation

experiences. I've had some of these experiences. For example, I

tried meditation to help a cat that was sick. In the experience, the

cat said that his problems were " bone deep " . It turned out he had

feline leukemia.

 

Another time I had a very upsetting dream in which a relative was

trapped inside a weirdly growing tree. Over the door were 3 Greek

letters: Delta, chi, and I don't remember the 3rd one.

Mathmatically, the delta symbol can be used to indicate change

(actually incrementations of a variable), and chi, X, is the

multiplication symbol. Change multiplied. What part of the human

body looks like an upside down tree? The air passages in the lungs.

He had lung cancer. Further symbolism was that the weirdly growing

tree was on Monroe Street. In American history there was something

called the Monroe Doctrine which stated that the US had the right to

invade other countries. (I don't happen to agree with this, but it

is a symbol of invasion.)

 

To this day I don't like to remember this dream. But it is a good

example of how the subconscious can put info together and present it

in dream symbolism. The info was gathered via my normal 5 senses. I

just didn't want to put two and two together and face up to what

various things pointed to.

 

I mention these experiences so readers will know that some people

have these particular talents, and there is a legitimate place in

healing for the gifts. BUT the talent is not to be used in lieu of

scientific tests. The talent sometimes can tell one where to look

and what to suspect which then can be verified or ruled out via

objective tests and other means. Symbolism also can be difficult to

interpret. One may think it means one thing when it means something

else.

 

This also is a talent which can be developed. Learn to meditate, and

use meditation in problem solving. It doesn't have to be a healing

problem. It can be any problem. Often you will be surprised at the

insights you gain. You'll still need an expert to double-check what

you come up with and make some minor suggestions, or you'll want to

study the subject in the normal way yourself. But using meditation

in problem solving can enable one to see more of the larger picture

and cut some time off the learning curve.

 

Finally, there are many examples of dreams providing very helpful

perspectives. For example, the structure of benzene puzzled chemists

for years until one night a chemist dreamed of a snake grasping it's

tail in its mouth. The structure of benzene is a ring. Another

example is a dream gave the inventer of the sewing machine the idea

of putting the hole in the tip of the needle instead of in the base

(which he had been trying to do).

 

Not all dreams are helpful dreams. Excessive dreaming is a symptom

of certain TCM imbalances.

 

This particular talent also reaches its full flowering when the

person also combines it with a lot of learning through the usual

means in the awake world.

 

One other thing about that sensation of floating and falling as the

person falls asleep and jerks back awake. Certain drugs - including

the pain killer Darvon (generic name propoxyphene hydrochloride) -

can trigger this in some individuals. So when it's occuring, one

also wants to consider the possibility that the person is on a

medication which is causing the problem.