-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
mental/emotional
anxiety
psychospiritual approaches
metaphors and correlations
Always include the recognition of the influence of repressed and/or damaged emotions; particularly, anger, guilt, and fear. Environmental pollution such as toxic air or water affect a person's nervous system and can cause a constant rise in anxiety and stress levels. Many inner sufferings are often rooted in chemical imbalances. (Shealy, p. 286)
Not trusting the flow and the process of life. (Hay, 1988, p. 14)
Associated with lack of maternal bonding postpartum. (Harrison, p. 21-2)
An important characteristic of altered states is that many of them cannot be dealt with sufficiently without entering them. Process example: "Consider a man who complains of anxiety attacks which he says make him 'flutter.' He says he is normally very sensitive and delicate, but not anxious. His 'normal state of mind,' (i.e., his primary process) is to be sensitive, cool, and unafraid, his secondary one is to flutter. We can remain in our primary process and talk to him, encouraging him to remain in his normal state, but the chances of our getting at the core of his anxiety and relieving it are not very great. To deal directly with his present problem we might encourage him to get into that altered state, into his secondary process by using the 'fluttering' as a characteristic of this state. When he begins to flutter, he visualizes a figure threatening him. Then he suddenly tells us that he is afraid his father will strangle him, then he automatically comes out of the altered state and seems his normal self. He says that while in that state he realized that he has preferred to repress his own voice rather than be forceful with others. The insight obtained from the experience, that being forceful is difficult for him, coupled with the fact that the fluttering stopped when he began to be more forceful, leads us to wonder why talking about the way he represses himself did not help him. It seems as if one solution to his anxiety problem lay hidden in the complete experience of an altered state and therefore occurred in switching states and processes, in accessing the fluttering and finding our more about its nature." (Mindell, 1988, p. 164)
Chinese psychophysiology:
Heart ~ Xin houses the Shen (Spirit); 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 Shi (Excess) signs include false or facile laughter; sobbing; agitated spirit; insomnia (Seem, p. 28); frightful dreams; anxiety; tongue feels numb and heavy; heavy chest; hot sweat; and orange-colored urine.
» 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.
San Jiao ~ Triple Warmer regulates the relations among the three regions roughly delimited by the chest, abdomen, and pelvis; and relates to the function of heat regulation.
» Mental signs of Triple Warmer channel disorders include emotional upsets caused by breaking of friendships or family relations; depression; suspicion; anxiety; and poor elimination of harmful thoughts. (Seem, p. 28)
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); reflects emotional harmony and movement; and expresses itself in the nervous system.
» 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 skin and/or tendons; asthma; aching at the waist; hernia; and difficulty raising head up and down.
» 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)
Lung ~ Fei governs the Qi; regulates the rhythm of respiration, the pulse, and all bodily processes; is the home of the Po (Corporeal Soul); it relates to strength and sustainability; opens at the nose; extends through the skin, controls the pores, and manifests through the body hair.
» Healthy expressions are righteousness and courage.
» Weakness, dysfunction, and illness are associated with excessive grief, sadness, worry, and depression. Worry depletes the Lung Qi.
Large Intestine ~ Da Chang absorbs water; governs transformation and conveyance of waste from food to form stool; relates to strength and sustainability as the Yang aspect of Metal.
» Weakness, dysfunction, and illness are associated with sadness, grief, and worry. Worry depletes the Lung Qi which fails to descend and assist the Large Intestine in its functions.
» Healthy expressions are righteousness and courage.
» Large Intestine Xu (Deficiency) signs include skin eruptions; itching; cold; difficulty warming up (Seem, p. 29); shivering; rumbling in the bowels; diarrhea.
therapies
behavior modification:
systematic desensitization
relaxation techniques (especially breathing, Qigong)
imagery:
dancing with flowers (Chavez)
Mut and crone journey (Scully)
rain of light (Chavez)
sand pile (Chavez)
Taueret journey: rebirth (Scully)
the still pool (Chavez)
thistle down (Chavez)
related materia medica listings: imagery for anxiety and depression
affirmation:
I love and approve of myself and I trust the process of life.
I am safe.
(Hay, 1988, p. 14)
process paradigm: (experientially oriented)
What is the symptom preventing me from doing? What is the symptom making me do? (see process interview: psycho/neurological system)
related materia medica listings:
the shadow and physical symptoms
body reveals: the spirit
anxiety and depression
imagery for anxiety and depression
converting a symptom to a signal
behavior modification (see also systematic desensitization)
relaxation techniques (especially breathing)
state-dependent learning
subjective inquiry approach
exploratory or mechanistic?
imagery: precautions
imagery: techniques
affirmations: guidelines and precautions
hypnotherapy
theotherapy
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.