Depression: 4 Things That the Chinese Medicine Practitioner Wants to Share With You
No.1 Triggers, Symptoms, TCM’s understanding
● Common Triggers 1. Bereavement: eg. losing loved ones, break-up 2. Key life events: eg. job promotion, getting married, pregnancy, divorce 3. Rejection: eg. enrollment exams, appling jobs, social rejection 4. Stress: inducing hormonal changes 5. Insomnia: early wake up 6. Health condition: illnesses, medication triggers depression 7. Finances: debuts issue, loan 8. Substance use: eg. alcohol 9. Thinking pattern: eg. rumination
● Symptoms
Psychological
Somatic
Social
-Prolonged low mood
-Sleep problems
-Avoid to contact friends and join social events
-Hopeless and helpless
-Fatigue
-Away from the hobbies
-Losing motivation and interests
-Unexplained pain
-difficulties in daily life (eg. home, work, school)
-Tearful without specific reasons
-Changes in weight
-No expectation or passion of life
-Lack of libido
-Decreased self-esteem
-Constipation
-Suicidal ideation
-Reduced speech rate
● TCM’s understanding When explaining the mechanism of depression, it involves all of the five major organs in TCM: liver, heart, spleen, lung and kidney. Given the complicated causes of depression, it may develop a variety of syndromes as shown in the figure below. The most common syndrome is Liver qi stagnation, because the liver is the first organ which responds to the depressive mood. However with the prolonged term of depression, it will further influence the energy flow in other organs, forming the rest of syndromes. As depression itself keeps draining the energy, it will be more frequent to notice the deficiency-related symptoms in long-term or recurrent depression.
No.2 TCM approach to help reducing depression ● Therapeutic principles for the 7 syndromes
Liver Qi Stagnation
Soothe the liver and regulate qi
Heart & Liver Depression
Soothe the liver, clear the heat in the heart
Heart & Liver Blood deficiency
Tonify the blood, nourish the liver and calm the nerves
Heart-Spleen Deficiency
Tonify Qi and the spleen, nourish the heart and calming the nerves
Phlegm-Qi Stagnation
Disperses phlegm and promotes qi, soothes the mind
Lung Qi Deficiency
Tonify qi and the lungs, promoting lung’s qi
Spleen-Kidney Deficiency
Tonify the spleen and kidney, strengthen the brain
● Effective TCM treatments
-Acupuncture: making use of meridians to remove the stagnation in the qi flow -Cupping Gua Sha: releasing the pathogen that increasing depression eg. phlegm, qi stagnation, heat; creating more space in the body -Herbal medicine: balance the qi and blood, tonify the deficiency in the heart, liver, spleen and kidney -Moxibustion: strengthen the Yang energy and guide the heat back to its origin -Ear seeds: generating stimulus to adjust the nervous system
midpoint between the nipples (level with the 4th intercostal space)
-Regulates qi and suppresses rebellious qi -Expand chest and relaxes diaphragm
● How to press? 1. Choose one side (left/right) each time 2. Use the thumb to apply pressure 3. Deep and firm pressure 4. Cooperate with deep breath: inhale press, exhale release 5. 1-3 minutes for each acupoint
No.4 Herbal tea and soup recipe to remove stagnation and create more space in the body
● Herbal tea (for 500ml)
Ingredients
Rose buds 10g, chamomile 10g, peppermint 5g, tangerine peel 5g
How to make
1. Put all ingredients into a teakettle 2. Add in 500ml drinking water 3. Boil for 3 minutes then turn down the heat and simmer for another 10 minutes 4. May add a teaspoon of honey for the taste
1. Wash the pork, bring to a boil, then immediately remove from the heat. Drain, rinse the pork and cut into pieces 2. soak and wash the rest of the ingredients, add 9 bowls of water, boil over high heat, turn and simmer for 45 minutes 3. add salt to adjust the taste
Frequency
once a week
Frequency once a week ***Caution: all of the recipes may not be suitable for everyone, please consult a TCM practitioner before you apply it by yourself.
They’re like thoughts we’ve accepted as true, but they hold us back from reaching our full potential. Imagine these beliefs as invisible walls blocking our path to pursuing our dreams and positive changes.
In the tapestry of existence, one thread holds a special place: the quest for purpose. What ignites the fire within us, propelling our journey through the myriad moments and challenges life presents, is the clarity of our life’s purpose.
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