Anxiety from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Perspective
First some Irish context, in May 2023 Amarach Research conducted an online survey on behalf of Aware - it was a national study with a representative sample of 1,200 people. The study revealed high levels of depression and anxiety in Ireland with 60% of those surveyed experiencing depression and 80% experiencing anxiety. It is not surprising so that I treat many people with anxiety in my studio on a week to week basis - these people come from all walks of life, gender, age, socio economic group - and have a variety of different symptoms that fit into the category of anxiety.
Anxiety affects different people in different ways. Anxiety can affect how you think, feel and behave, including:
being on edge, restless or irritable
feeling a sense of dread
difficulty concentrating or making decisions
repeatedly checking things or seeking assurance from others
avoiding situations or putting off doing things you are worried about
an increase or decrease in your appetite or craving junk food
loss of interest in sex
Physical signs of anxiety can include:
dizziness
sweating
shortness of breath
trembling
headaches
tummy aches or diarrhoea
tiredness
nightmares
sleep problems
teeth-grinding or jaw clenching
a strong, fast or irregular heartbeat
pins and needles
a dry mouth
muscle tension or neck and shoulder pain
a flare-up of another health problem, for example, dermatitis or asthma
Signs of anxiety can be also mistaken for a physical illness.
The most common treatment for moderate to severe anxiety in Western medicine is the use of antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication. The downside is that the side effects can be just as disruptive as the anxiety itself – and in some cases can actually cause anxiety. Traditional Chinese medicine doesn’t believe that every person can be handed the same pill and feel relief. Its therapeutic approaches are myriad and rely on in-depth differential diagnosis to understand how the body is functioning, why the anxiety is occurring, which systems of the body are affected, and which of the many available treatment options will be most beneficial.
Traditional Chinese medicine looks at the body as one system with many parts, working harmoniously together. If one system gets clogged, breaks, or needs greasing, the whole system will function poorly or not at all.
In TCM, anxiety is mainly correlated with the Heart organ, which also “houses” the mind. A healthy heart equals a healthy mind and spirit. High levels of anxiety over prolonged periods can weaken or burden the Heart and mind. Since every system is connected, if the Heart begins to weaken it will pull from other individual systems in order to keep the whole system running. On the other hand, a weakness in one of the other systems can also pull from, or burden, the Heart system causing anxiety. In order to find the root cause and identify which system is causing the main disruption, we look at different patterns of symptoms along with tongue and pulse diagnosis. Anxiety can present in many different forms depending on the root cause. Other systems that can be involved are Liver, Kidney and Spleen.