Traditional Chinese Medicine for Depression
Herbs & Drugs ›› Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, is a safe and effective way to deal with depression. Acupuncture, herbal formulas, and other Chinese medical modalities have been used in China for over 5000 years.
In Chinese medicine, we more often speak of the emotions being the causing physical symptoms rather than the opposite. Perhaps this is because we see more of these kinds of cases, but practitioners need to be mindful of the fact that physical syndrome patterns can also lead to emotional disharmonies. In Chinese medicine, depression is treated according to the presenting syndrome pattern. In the cases that we present below, we discuss these treatments individually.
One of the functions of your Chinese Liver is to regulate the smooth flow of everything in your body, from your digestion to your hormones, and even your emotions. When strong emotions or an emotional upset begins to affect your life and health in a negative way, you can assume that there is impaired flow on the part of your Chinese Liver.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Categories of Depression
- Lung Qi Deficiency manifests as depression with an inability to "let go," aversion to speaking, shortness of breath, fatigue, sweating easily upon exertion, and a weak cough. The tongue usually is pale, with a thin white coating, and the pulse usually is thin.
- Liver Qi Stagnation Affecting the Spleen manifests as depression with feelings of irritability, moodiness, poor appetite, hypochondriac tightness or pain, muscular tension, fatigue, and alternating constipation and loose stools. The tongue is usually pale or dusky with distended sublingual veins and the pulse is wiry-weak.
- Qi and Phlegm Clashing manifests as depression with a feeling of having something caught in the throat that cannot be swallowed and a sense of constriction in the chest. The tongue usually has a slimy white coating, and the pulse is slippery-wiry.
- Yin and Blood Deficiency of the Zang Organs manifests as depression with feelings of restlessness, a tendency toward sudden grief and crying, an unexplained need to yawn frequently, emotional reactions out of sync with the stimuli causing them, a feeling of oppression in the chest, and possibly fatigue. The tongue usually is pale and the pulse thin and wiry.
- Phlegm manifests as depression with an inability to think clearly. Common complaints are fatigue, a sensation of heaviness in the body, expectoration of phlegm, lack of appetite, and difficulty waking up in the morning. The tongue usually has a slimy or sticky coating and the pulse is slippery or wiry.
Sources and Additional Information:
http://www.healthcommunities.com/depression-altmed/tcm.shtml
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