-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
digestive system
hangover
psychospiritual approaches

metaphors and correlations

• Headache: Invalidating the self; self-criticism; fear. (Hay, 1984, p. 167)
• Nausea: Fear; rejecting an idea or experience. (Hay, 1984, p. 176)
related materia medica listings: alcoholism

Chinese psychophysiology:
Spleen ~ Pi governs digestion; governs the Xue (Blood) and holds it in the vessels; 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. Chronic Spleen Xu (Deficiency) increases susceptibility to Spleen Shi (Excess) as Dampness accumulates.
» 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.
» 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, overexposure to external Dampness, and excess consumption of sweet and/or Cold foods will also deplete the Spleen.

Stomach ~ Wei is the Sea of Nourishment; transforms and digests food so that the Spleen can separate the distilled food essences; with the Spleen, is the root of post-natal Qi; and as Earth, relates to the ability to assimilate, stabilize, and feel centered and balanced.
»
Healthy expressions are fairness, openness, and nurturance.
» Weakness, dysfunction, and illness associated with worry, anxiety, and overthinking.
»
Stomach Xu (Deficiency) signs include slow digestion, vomiting after meals, painful eyebrows, emotionality, teariness, sadness, cold feet (Seem, p. 28); cold and shivering in the abdominal area; abdomen swollen and full; gastritis; loss of appetite; diarrhea; nausea; and leg weakness.
» 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; cleanses the Xue (Blood); maintains smooth flow of Qi and Xue (Blood); and reflects emotional harmony and movement.
» Healthy expressions are kindness, spontaneity, and ease of movement.
» 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)
» 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.

Gall Bladder ~ Dan is the source of courage and initiative, and is responsible for decision-making as the bodily Minister of Justice; controls circulation of the nourishing and protecting energies [Ying Qi and Wei (Protective) Qi]; and opens into the eyes. Its channel purifies Yang energy in the body.
» Healthy expressions are kindness, decisiveness, control, and spirit of initiative.
» Gall Bladder Shi (Excess) signs include tiredness; sighing; irritability; bitter taste in the mouth in the morning; pain in all joints; edematous knees and legs (Seem, p. 29); tinnitus; lateral headache; heaviness in head and stomach; muscular spasms; and limbs slightly cold.


therapies

affirmation:
• I love and approve of myself. I see myself and what I do with eyes of love. I am safe. (Hay, 1984, p. 167)
• I am safe. I trust the process of life to bring only good to me. (Hay, 1984, p. 176)

process paradigm:
• 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
converting a symptom to a signal
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.