Posted by Hombre on May 18, 2010, at 4:38:08
Depression, anxiety, neuroses, insomnia, agitation, restlessness, mania, and other mental illnesses/affective disorders are considered to be disorders of the Shen (spirit, as in spunk, vibrancy).
These symptoms often cluster together into a syndrome that may or may not be adequately understood or treated using antidepressants, anxiolytics, antipsychotics, etc. I figure the reason most of us are here is that we are searching for something that explains an often mystifying mix of physical, emotional and mental symptoms.
I am not making the claim that Chinese medicine is the answer. What I do find fascinating is the way Chinese medicine considered mood disorders/mental illness the same way it considers any other illness, that is, the physical, emotional and mental aspects can never be separated since a human being is a holistic entity. Although filled with archaic terms and metaphors for the functioning of the human systems, in a sense it doesn't matter because diagnosis and treatment are internally consistent and the explanations take into account clusters of symptoms.
Here is a long series of articles on Shen Disturbances in Chinese medicine:
http://www.itmonline.org/shen/index.htm
Here is a particularly interesting chapter that immediately made me think of P-Babble and the frustration we all feel trying to seek validation for our illnesses and finding a solution to illnesses that are still misunderstood:
http://www.itmonline.org/shen/chap6.htm
"Practitioners offering natural health care services often encounter patients who have, as part of their syndrome, a neurotic condition, characterized by worry, lack of clarity, and inability to control their emotions sufficiently to aid their health. They may present symptoms that are difficult to describe clearly, with some symptoms that vary or that appear to present conflicting characteristics (especially in terms of traditional Chinese categories such as hot/cold, dry/damp, etc.), and they may have unusual responses to therapies that have already been tried. Such patients are likely to have visited many practitioners in the past and felt unsatisfied with both the diagnosis given and the outcome of treatment. They usually display, upon further questioning, a close linkage between emotional, behavioral, and health problems.
Such patients have been given (or are able to find on their own) non-standard disease classifications, namely those that are not widely accepted in the practice of modern medicine. These diagnoses include candidiasis, multiple allergies, parasites, heavy metal or other toxicity, chronic fatigue syndrome, leaky gut, and others for which standard testing procedures do not confirm the disorder (though various alternative medicine methods may seem supportive). Finding a culprit to blame the condition on, something separate from the individual's emotions and behavior, is often deemed important. Thus, the diagnosis may include reference to a toxin or parasite or rare infection, or an impact from modern society, such as food additives, drugs, or environmental pollutants. Yet, these attributions can be very misleading because, whether or not they are present, they may have little to do with the symptoms.
A diagnosis for these patients such as "liver qi stagnation," "spleen weakness," or "heart fire," may be given by practitioners of Chinese medicine. These exotic terms do not carry the risk of labeling the condition with a term that merely stimulates the emotional reactions to it (e.g., neurosis, hysteria, or hypochondria). While the Chinese medical terms don't automatically convey such concepts as neurotic hypersensitivity or chronic anxiety, Chinese writers often translate the traditional terms in that way when producing translated text books. There is no question among medical doctors in the West-and those in the East-that physical problems exist in these patients; indeed, such patients may have one or more standard medical diagnoses along with the unexplained disorders. However, the patient also is recognized as having functional disorders associated with psychological problems and with behavior patterns that impair both physical and mental health. Doctors often find that sedative and anti-depressant drugs provide a certain degree of relief for the patients, though compliance with using the drugs is often poor because the patients worry about taking them or fear the side effects.
It is not always possible to separate organic diseases from others that might be termed psychosomatic, neurotic, or related to behavior and thought patterns. As an example, the condition known as chronic fatigue syndrome has been very difficult for medical researchers to study because there is such a diverse range of physical and mental conditions that are presented by those who claim to be suffering from it. Among them are persons who are simply depressed or living an erratic lifestyle that brings about fatigue, and there are others who have some kind of viral infection (or group of viruses) that may be identified as the culprit. The infectious agents can wreak havoc on the immune system and cause fatigue as a side effect, but so can emotional disturbances and the adverse effects of certain activities and difficult experiences.
Chinese physicians have dealt with complex patients and difficult to diagnose diseases, such as those depicted above, for many centuries. Examples of relevant disease categories to be presented here include xue dao zheng (blood course syndrome), baihe bing (lily disease), and meihe qi (plum pit qi). These syndromes have an interesting underlying unity, which is the accumulation of damp or phlegm-damp.
It is hoped that by presenting an overview of the way the Chinese have interpreted such patterns and treated them, practitioners who prescribe Chinese herbs as a part of their practice will be aided in both understanding and developing therapeutic plans for the unusual syndromes. Specifically, instead of veering off into a variety of alternative medicine explanations and techniques, practitioners will find that such problems are amenable to the traditional Chinese medical approach with a focus on herbs. Acupuncture therapies that address these patterns are also potentially helpful."
(continued)
poster:Hombre
thread:947779
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20100516/msgs/947779.html