Mental Health and Chinese Medicine
By Dr. Renae Haldeman · New to some of these words? See the glossary.
Have you ever felt so on edge that a small thing, like another driver cutting you off on the way home from your son’s soccer game, made you very angry? In Chinese medicine, strong emotions like anger and anxiety are seen as connected to how our organ systems are working. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has fascinating ideas about mental health.
Each organ system is linked with an emotion. Some of these emotions are fear, jealousy, overthinking and worry, feeling abandoned, depression, and anger. These are just a few of the many hard emotions we face almost every day. A mix of what is happening around us and inside us feeds emotional imbalance. Let’s take a quick look at what Chinese medicine teaches about the small intestine and our mental and emotional health.
When the small intestine is out of harmony, the emotion that shows up is feeling abandoned. When it is in harmony, the small intestine gives us the power of discernment. This is the ability to see clearly and tell the difference between what matters and what doesn’t before we make decisions. In Western medicine, the small intestine is the place where the body absorbs nutrients. It separates the good, which the body takes in, from the bad, which it gets rid of. If the small intestine is out of balance, a person may have trouble thinking clearly and making choices that truly help the whole self.
Two patients came in who needed extra help strengthening the small intestine system with acupuncture. One was a teen boy who pulled out his hair, a habit called trichotillomania. His body was overwhelmed by the changes he was going through, and he pulled his hair over and over to “kill” the pain. Simply using the small intestine treatment plan with acupuncture eased his symptoms in a very short time. Within two months of treatment, his symptoms were completely gone and the hair pulling stopped.
A man with a history of anxiety and depression was struggling after the loss of his sister, and he feared he might follow the same path. He also had a long-lasting shingles outbreak along with his mental and emotional symptoms. His case was longer and more complex. Within three months of regular acupuncture, his anxiety and depression dropped to a level he had never known, and his shingles pain and symptoms eased and went away.
Call today for a free consultation to see if acupuncture can help strengthen your mental health: (702) 258-7860.
If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), available 24/7.
Related articles
This article is educational and is not medical advice. Individual results vary. Please talk with a licensed healthcare provider about your own health.