-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
endocrine system
seasonal affective disorder
psychospiritual approaches
metaphors and correlations
Light is essential in synchronizing the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal mechanism. Adrenal hormone release, which normally increases just before awakening, is delayed when subjects are kept in the dark after awakening. When subjects are subjected to 23 hours of darkness, hormone levels remained lower than controls. (Whybrow, p. 128)
Some persons' 'hibernation response' is triggered by temperature more profoundly than photoperiod. In these cases the use of cold temperatures to trigger an endocrine response will increase energy. These people need to acclimatize to the cold through physical conditioning (walking for 45-60 minutes in cool air dressed in as little as courage permits) to increase visceral thermogenesis and metabolic rate through increased responsiveness of the thyroid gland. Thou shalt not overdress! (Whybrow, p. 65-78)
Chinese psychophysiology:
Kidney ~ Shen stores Jing (Essence) and governs birth, growth, reproduction, development, and aging; houses the Zhi (Will); expresses ambition and focus; corresponds to the season of Winter; provides the "Fire of Life" through its Yang functions; produces the Marrow which generates the spinal cord and "fills up" the brain; nourishes the brain to sustain concentration, clear thinking, and memory; and displays the effects of overwork, chronic debilitation, and extreme stress.
» Healthy expressions are gentleness, groundedness, and endurance.
» Kidney Xu (Deficiency) signs include indecisiveness; confused speech; dreams of trees submerged under water; cold feet and legs; abundant sweating (Seem, p. 28); fearfulness; apathy; chronic fatigue; discouragement; scatteredness; lack of will; negativity; impatience; difficult inhalation; low sex drive; lumbago; sciatica; and musculoskeletal irritation and inflammation, especially when worse from touch.
» Intense or prolonged fear depletes the Kidney. Overwork, parenting, simple aging, and a sedentary or excessively indulgent lifestyle all contribute significantly to Kidney Xu (Deficiency).
Liver ~ Gan is the home of the Hun (Ethereal Soul); it relates to decisiveness, control, and the principle of emergence; stores the Xue (Blood); maintains smooth flow of Qi and Xue (Blood); opens into the eyes; expresses itself in the nervous system; and reflects emotional harmony and movement.
» Healthy expressions are kindness, spontaneity, and ease of movement.
» Liver Xu (Deficiency) signs include impotence; frigidity; pain in thighs, pelvic region, and throat; ready tendency to "the blahs" (Seem, p. 28); timidity; depression; irritability; vertigo; pruritus; dry eyes, skin, and/or tendons; asthma; aching at the waist; hernia; and difficulty raising head up and down. Liver Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency) predisposes to Xue Yu (Blood Stasis).
» Liver Qi Stagnation reflects and accentuates emotional constraint as the Liver's function of facilitating smooth flow in the body is constricted. Stagnation is associated with frustration, irritability, tension, and feeling stuck. With time this pattern tends to produce a gloomy emotional state of constant resentment, repressed anger or depression, along with tightness in the chest, frequent sighing, abdominal tension or distension, and/or a feeling of a lump in the throat with difficulty in swallowing. (Maciocia, p. 216) Xue Yu (Blood Stasis) often begins with Qi Stagnation.
Heart ~ Xin houses the Shen (Spirit) and reveals itself through the brightness in the eyes; governs Fire and Heat; rules the Xue (Blood) and its vessels and directs the circulation; opens into the tongue and controls speech; and relates to the integration of the organs and the personality.
» Healthy expressions are warmth, vitality, excitement, inner peace, love, and joy.
» Heart Xu (Deficiency) signs include sadness; absence of laughter; depression; fear; anxiety; shortness of breath (Seem, p. 28); cold feeling in the chest and limbs; palpitations; cold sweat; inability to speak; memory failure; nocturnal emissions; and restless sleep.
» The Heart is the Emperor of the bodily realm so that when the Heart is disturbed all the other organs will be disrupted.
Spleen ~ Pi governs digestion and manifests in the muscle tissues; transforms food into Qi and Xue (Blood); governs the Xue (Blood); resolves Dampness and Phlegm; maintains upbearing; and relates to the ability to assimilate, stabilize, and feel centered and balanced.
» Healthy expressions are fairness, openness, deep thinking, and reminiscence.
» Spleen Xu (Deficiency) signs include slightness (deficient "form"); abundant elimination; morning fatigue; cold, wet feet (Seem, p. 28); abdomen taut and distended like a drum; craving for sweets; flatulence; nausea; mild edema; memory failure; heavy feeling in legs; pale lips; loose stools; and muscular weakness. Unresolved Spleen Xu (Deficiency) predisposes to Spleen Shi (Excess), particularly accumulation of Dampness and Phlegm, as the Spleen's functioning declines.
» Spleen Shi (Excess) signs include heaviness (excess "form"); large abdomen; great sighing; sadness; obsessions and nightmares (Seem, p. 28); abdominal pain; irregular appetite; stickiness in the mouth and on lips; red lips; chest congestion; fatigue; and constipation. Dampness and Phlegm Shi (Excess) usually derive from Spleen Yang and/or Qi Xu (Deficiency).
» The excessive use of the mind in thinking, studying, concentrating, and memorizing over a long period of time tends to weaken the Spleen. This also includes excessive pensiveness and constant brooding. (Maciocia, p. 241) Likewise, inadequate physical exercise and excess consumption of sweet and Cold foods will also deplete the Spleen. Environmentally, the Spleen is highly susceptible to attack from external Dampness and Cold.
» Mental signs of Spleen channel disorders include mental sluggishness; vertigo; melancholia; obsessions turned toward the past; fixed and rigid ideas; sleepwalking; agitated sleep; and nightmares. (Seem, p. 27)
therapies
behavior modification:
Prepare a personal chronobiology chart to understand the daily and seasonal rhythms. Chart the ebb and flow of life rhythms, both circadian (daily) and circannular (yearly patterns). A simple circannular graph can be created by plotting time in weekly intervals versus parameters (each graded as to decreasing, average, or increasing): depression; appetite/weight; energy/enthusiasm; sleep (hours); sex interest/activity; strength/fitness. Daily rhythms are plotted on another graph, using time in hours versus a scale from full alertness to awake to deep sleep. Results are used to plan treatment strategies. (An example of 'norms' for circadian and circannular charts are included in this program). (Whybrow, p. 129-147)
Light therapy most effective for sleeping problems: If the person gets sleepy too soon, use bright light in the evening, between 6-7 PM and 10 PM, and keep away from bright light until 8-9 AM, although you should still awaken by 6 AM. If the person wants to be able to sleep and awaken earlier, use bright light between arising at 6 AM and 8-9 AM. Keep away from bright light after 4 PM. This schedule works for most patients. These treatments are based on Dr. Alfred Lewy's work with phase delays. (Whybrow, p. 48, 155)
Create an eternal Spring Room in your house. Ideally, it will have southern exposure; large glass panes on south, west, and east sides; spring colors like warm peach and pink balanced by lavender and blue; or for a warmer, more stimulating environment consider ivory with orange, brown, green, and white highlights; or your own favorite colors that make you feel cheerful; furniture that is light and outdoorsy; with plants (preferred for their humidification and oxygen exchange) or an indoor herb garden, at a temperature of about 72 degrees. (Whybrow, p. 87-119)
Plan a vacation which just precedes your low time(s) of year. Find the ideal time to take a healing vacation to prepare your body and offset negative responses to lack of light or heat. Generally the vacation should act as a buffer, maintaining a high photoperiod while easing you into the temperature of the coming season. Persons who are more temperature sensitive (depressions in dead of winter rather than onset of winter), should go not to a warm climate but to a cold one with an extended photoperiod. (Whybrow, p. 207-210)
imagery:
Mut and crone journey (Scully)
sun's entry (Chavez)
vitality of life (Serinus, p. 203)
related materia medica listings: imagery for anxiety and depression
process paradigm: (experientially oriented)
What is the symptom preventing me from doing? What is the symptom making me do? Who's hibernating?
(see process interview: psycho/neurological system, endocrine system interview)
related materia medica listings:
the shadow and physical symptoms
converting a symptom to a signal
imagery for anxiety and depression
imagery: precautions
imagery: techniques
process paradigm
footnotes
Reprinted from The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, Maciocia, Giovanni, 1989, by permission of the publisher Churchill Livingstone, a division of Elsevier Limited.