-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
digestive system
hepatitis
psychospiritual approaches

metaphors and correlations

• Chronic anger decreases excretion of lipases which are responsible for the absorption of fat from the diet and may in a severe case result in chronic hepatitis. (Harrison, p. 141)
• Inflammation: fear; inflamed thinking; seeing red; anger and frustration about conditions in one's life. (Hay, 1984, p. 170-1)
• Liver is seat of anger and primitive emotions. Problems have to do with chronic complaining; justifying fault-finding to deceive yourself; feeling bad. (Hay, 1984, p. 173)

Chinese psychophysiology:
Spleen ~ Pi governs digestions; transforms food into Qi and Xue (Blood); governs the Xue (Blood); resolves Dampness; and relates to the ability to assimilate, stabilize, and feel balanced and centered.
» 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; easy bruising; pale lips; loose stools; muscular weakness; and, indirectly, obesity. Unresolved Spleen Xu (Deficiency) will ultimately shift into Spleen Shi (Excess) as Dampness accumulates; the heat produced by Liver Stagnation will then often transform into Damp-Heat.
» 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. (Seem, p. 28)
» The excessive use of the mind in thinking, studying, concentrating, and memorizing over a long period of time tends to weaken the Spleen and may lead to Xue Yu (Blood Stasis). This also includes excessive pensiveness and constant brooding. (Maciocia, p. 241) Likewise, inadequate physical exercise, overexposure to external Dampness, and excess consumption of sweet and/or Cold foods will also deplete the Spleen.
» 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)

Mental signs of Stomach channel disorders include depression, death wishes, instability, suicidal tendencies, mentally overwrought, doubt, suspicions, tendency to mania, and slowness at assimilating ideas. (Seem, p. 27)

Liver ~ Gan is the home of the Hun (Ethereal Soul); it relates to decisiveness, control, and the principle of emergence; stores and cleanses the Xue (Blood); maintains smooth flow of Qi and Xue (Blood); reflects emotional harmony and movement; and opens into the eyes.
» 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) and Xue (Blood) Heat.
» 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.
» Liver Shi (Excess)
signs include discontent; anger; pain in lumbar region and genitals (Seem, p. 28); muscular tension; excessive sex drive; insomnia; moodiness; excitability; genital diseases; red, tearing eyes; compulsive energy; and bitter taste in the mouth. Chronically suppressed anger can implode and give rise to Fire in the Liver and Gall Bladder with symptoms of irritability, bitter taste, headaches, etc., and a tendency to "invade" the Stomach, Spleen, and Intestines.


therapies

imagery:
related materia medica listings: imagery for immune enhancement
• beaver dammed (Chavez)
• liver and eagle (Chavez)

affirmation:
• (Inflammation) My thinking is peaceful, calm, and centered. I am willing to change all patterns of criticism. I love and approve of myself. (Hay, 1984, p. 170-1)
• Love and peace and joy are what I know. I choose to live through the open space in my heart. I look for love and find it everywhere. (Hay, 1984, p. 173)

theotherapy:
Prometheus (Lemesurier, p. 99)

psychotherapy:
• Those who are prone to inflammations are attempting to avoid conflicts. The following questions may be useful:
» What conflict in my life am I failing to see? hear? feel?
» What conflict am I dodging? What is my relationship to it?
» What conflict am I failing to admit to?
• Questions of interest for those suffering from a liver problem:
» In what areas have I lost my capacity for accurate assessment and evaluation?
» In what respects can I no longer distinguish between what is good for me and what is 'poisonous'?
» Where have I been taking things to excess? To what extent am I aiming too high (delusions of grandeur) and generally going beyond the limit?
» Am I lacking in confidence? decisiveness? (Dethlefsen, p. 108, 140)

process paradigm: (experientially oriented)
• What is the symptom preventing me from doing? What is the symptom making me do? (see process interview: digestive system, process interview: immune system)

related materia medica listings:
the shadow and physical symptoms
converting a symptom to a signal
imagery for immune enhancement
imagery: precautions
imagery: techniques
affirmations: guidelines and precautions
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.