There are so many reasons for you to feel resentful, angry, feel sad, or grieve. The loss of a job, being betrayed in your personal life or disregarded in your work, the death of a pet or a loved one, dysfunctional or broken relationships, the never ending challenges of the material world we need to deal with, and an unfulfilled life are just some of the reasons why people end up miserable, angry, or sad.
What exacerbates our situation even more is the fact that in the present society we are living in, people are under so much stress that they are not even afforded the luxury of properly venting out their extreme feelings and emotions of anger, grief, sadness, etc. Without a proper solution, they become more and more severe in the course of time.
Western Medicine Solutions for Strong Emotions
If you live in a Western society and are currently grieving or sad, then you may be thinking of going to a doctor for help. Family members and friends may give you much needed support, but as the heavy emotions linger, your support group and you yourself may seem to realize that no better option really exists. Based on how the patient expresses these emotions, in many instances, the doctor may feel that prescribing anti-depressants is the best way of handling the problem.
Certainly, medications are helpful measures but they were meant to only provide temporal relief and may lead to dependency when it is the sole remedy for the patient’s emotional issues.
In lieu of drugs, other doctors may suggest talk therapy or counseling in order to provide the patient an outlet to vent his/her emotions.
Whatever the plan of treatment is, Western medicine does not accept the fact that certain emotions can be due to imbalances in specific organs, which, more often than not, have adverse certain effects on the health of the mind and body of the patient. The specific organ that is affected will determine the type and degree of emotion felt.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Solutions for Strong Emotions
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) recognizes that a relationship between internal organ systems and emotions exists. This view is a very important aspect and determines the type of treatment that needs to be applied for the resolution or relief of these emotions.
When one begins to see a connection between the organ systems and emotions, a careful study of the changes in a person’s well being can help the practitioner figure what modes of treatment are needed to help restore balance to the existing imbalances in these systems.
The seven emotions in traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are:
1. Pensiveness
2. Joy
3. Grief
4. Fright
5. Fear
6. Anxiety
7. Anger
Each of these emotions is associated to (a) specific organ system(s). These associations are:
1. Pensiveness/Spleen – TCM believes that the spleen system is affected by too much mental stimulation or over thinking.
2. Joy/Heart – TCM states that overexcitement and agitation refers to the emotion of joy.
3. Grief/Lungs – The emotion of grief has a direct impact on the lungs; if the normal phase of grief lingers for a certain period of time, the grief can then turn chronic, which may then impact the lung system.
4. Fright/Heart & Kidneys – Fright is an experience that is felt spontaneously. Its initial experience only affects the Heart; if the fright turns into fear however, the Kidney then can be also affected.
5. Fear or the perception of fear affects the kidneys.
6. Anxiety and the lungs are associated with each other.
7. Anger/Liver- Anger can include irritability, frustration, and resentment.
These are just basic examples of the relationships of emotions to organ systems of the body. They do not show the other factors that can affect the emotions. They include the five TCM elements of water, metal, fire, earth, and wood.
Resentment, Anger, Stress, Sadness, And Grief – A Case Study
A 30 year old patient of a fourth generation TCM practitioner who writes for a certain prominent online website and is a also a board certified psychiatrist came in to complain of lower stomach pain she had been enduring for three months. The pain gets aggravated every time the patient ate oily foods or drank cold drinks. Her doctor prescribed her a drug that relieved the symptoms but not the cause, since the doctor was not able to observe any inflammation, cancer, infections, or any other tangible issues in the patient.
The findings of the TCM practitioner, however, were different. It became apparently clear that the symptoms of the patient were indeed caused by seemingly unrelated factors. The patient had been in grief after the recent loss of a long time friend. Moreover, she had been in extreme stress from an unsatisfying job that also forces her to relocate frequently.
An unhealthy lifestyle and a poor diet were also seen as contributing factors to the patient’s condition. For remedy, a holistic approach was adopted that incorporated the modalities of dietary modification and proper eating habits as well as qi gong, meditation, herbal remedies, and acupuncture. After a while the patient’s body systems were returned to their state of normal balance.
Sadness and grief are believed by TCM practitioners to slow down the flow of energy (qi) in the large intestine and the lungs.
Resentment and anger, on the other hand, are believed to generate obstructions to the flow of blood and energy in the gallbladder and liver energy channels. This can lead to symptoms of dysmenorrhea, insomnia, indigestion, mood swings, and pain.
The case study mentioned above was just one among several thousands of cases practitioners of TCM all around the world encounter frequently each day. You don’t need to be a fan of Chinese medicine to know that TCM has helped tens of millions of individuals to help deal with symptoms as well as the fundamental reasons that underlie their imbalances. TCM is an excellent option for maintaining a healthy spirit, mind, and body. It helps one to understand emotions and properly deal with them when they start becoming chronic. TCM can help rectify chronic emotions and neutralize excessive overwhelming stress.
Feel free to consult with an experienced and qualified practitioner if you have been experiencing some of these unhealthy emotions.