Anxiety in Traditional Chinese Medicine

For this month's article, I'm going to talk about the ailment of the century: anxiety, but from the point of view of traditional Chinese medicine.

Overview

Anxiety is characterized by a flow of thoughts that is difficult to control, which becomes disabling for the people affected by it.

To better understand this article, I need to explain the notion of the five movements, better known as the five elements.

Chinese thought organizes and classifies everything into themes. I'll be talking about this regularly in the future.

In this article, I will set out to classify anxiety (or rather the different types of anxiety) within the system of the five movements.

The five movements are: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.

Wood anxiety

I'll start with anxiety linked to Wood. It is characterized by the fact that thoughts generate anger. Anger then generates other thoughts. This creates a loop of anger.

Let's take a simple example: someone cuts you off in traffic in the morning. You get angry. Then you think about it all day. And the angrier you are, the more you think about it.

Without offering a one-size-fits-all solution, what can help in these cases is walking. Yes, because walking can be meditative and help release nervous tension.

Fire anxiety

Anxiety linked to the Fire movement is the one closest to states of worry.

This manifests mainly as the fear that something will happen and that it will turn out badly for you.

To test yourself, look at your consumption of coffee and dark chocolate.

In these cases, practicing a sport can help. As can doing artistic activities.

Earth anxiety

Anxiety linked to Earth is the one defined as "the anxiety of excessive thinking".

In Chinese thought, what matters is finding the middle ground. Thinking is good, but thinking too much is not.

It's also the idea of the little bike pedaling through the mud. The mind is heavy and not very clear.

In these cases, you need to do activities related to touch. Massage yourself, get a massage, do pottery, etc.

Metal anxiety

The Metal movement is linked to possession. That is, an anxious person with a weak Metal movement will have difficulty letting go and will want to keep control.

Their anxiety will be increased if money is in short supply.

In these cases, you need to keep physical contact with metal. That is, pay in cash as much as possible, for example. Carry metal objects on you, such as a chain or a ring, etc.

Water anxiety

For the last of the five, anxiety linked to Water.

This one is easily recognizable, because there is a notion of fear.

And very often, this fear makes us imagine the worst. In an innocuous situation, we will think the worst. For example, if a friend doesn't answer the phone, then something serious must have happened.

Here, there's no other solution than to sleep a lot, go to bed early and get up late, especially in winter.

In conclusion

It is always important to better understand how anxiety works. This also helps to fight it better. Knowledge is a formidable weapon. Knowing yourself is a real strength that makes it possible to find a path towards healing.

I should also point out that anxiety can hide more serious illnesses and that it is important to consult your primary care physician.