The Relationship Between Emotions and the Five Organs in Traditional Chinese Medicine
Humans are not like plants; who can be without emotions? In the process of recognizing the surrounding world or interacting with others, people always express some corresponding emotions towards any person, event, or object, such as happiness or sadness, love or dislike, joy or worry, excitement or fear, etc. The seven emotions—joy, anger, worry, thought, sadness, fear, and shock—are referred to as the “seven emotions”. Within a normal range, the fluctuations of these emotions have little impact on health and do not cause any pathological changes. However, once these emotions are excessively stimulated by internal or external factors, they can lead to various diseases.
1. Anger Harms the Liver
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that anger harms the liver, as anger directly affects this organ. This is because when one is angry, the qi rises. Many people may have experienced that when encountering something very infuriating, they feel blood rushing upwards. Therefore, individuals with cardiovascular diseases must be cautious and avoid anger. When anger arises, the qi and blood surge upwards, which can lead to adverse consequences. The “Huangdi Neijing” states that the liver stores blood, and when one is angry, it directly impacts the liver, causing the liver blood and qi to surge upwards, which can be very dangerous; some individuals may even suffer from cerebral hemorrhage.
2. Joy Harms the Heart
Logically, joy is considered a positive emotion among the seven emotions, so how can it harm the heart? Here, joy refers to excessive joy, which means being overly happy or excited. Excessive joy can damage the heart qi. Because “joy causes qi to relax”, after great joy, the qi disperses, leading to symptoms such as excessive laughter, palpitations, insomnia, and in severe cases, madness.
3. Thought Harms the Spleen
The “Huangdi Neijing” states: “Excessive thinking harms the spleen.” This means that overthinking can affect the spleen. If a person is overly sentimental and constantly pondering issues, they often neglect their diet or eat improperly, which can impact the spleen and stomach. A survey of 500 patients with gastrointestinal diseases found that 74% of them suffered from illnesses due to poor emotions and excessive thinking, highlighting the truth in the saying “excessive thinking harms the spleen”. The “Huangdi Neijing” also states, “Excessive thinking causes qi stagnation”; overthinking leads to qi stagnation, preventing the spleen and stomach from processing it, making one prone to illness.
4. Worry Harms the Lungs
Traditional Chinese Medicine holds that abnormal emotional changes significantly affect lung function, especially when people are worried, which can easily damage the lungs. For instance, individuals with poor lung function often find themselves inexplicably wanting to cry.
Additionally, the lungs govern the skin, so when worry harms the lungs, it can manifest as skin diseases, such as urticaria, alopecia areata, and psoriasis, in individuals who are frequently worried.
5. Fear Harms the Kidneys
TCM believes that the kidneys are the primary organs expressing fear. Fear is a stress response to sudden external stimuli. When a person experiences intense fear, they may suffer from incontinence, which aligns with the kidney’s function of governing the lower yin and bodily excretions. After being frightened, a person may faint, which relates to the kidneys storing essence and nourishing the brain. Under normal circumstances, fear can be beneficial, as it raises alertness to avoid harm, but excessive fear can deplete kidney qi, leading to incontinence, nocturnal emissions, and in severe cases, death.
Thus, emotions and the body are directly related. When the body has issues, emotions will change accordingly, and diseases caused by emotions can also be treated by nurturing the body. If a person maintains their emotions in an optimal state daily, diseases will naturally be deterred from “invading”.
When the Family is Disharmonious, One is Vulnerable to IllnessHere, we refer to harmony, as we often say, “A harmonious family thrives in all endeavors”. The consequences of disharmony in a family are well known. A skit performed by Feng Gong illustrates the story of “When the family is disharmonious, one is vulnerable to being bullied”. The essence is that a young thief sneaks into a household to steal but is suspected by the mistress of being the master’s lover, and ultimately, the thief is caught. The actor playing the police officer states, “A disharmonious family invites external bullying.” In life, we often see such examples; if a family constantly argues, suspects, and resents each other, outsiders will show disdain when mentioning that family. All this emphasizes the importance of nurturing the heart, which also requires harmony; otherwise, it invites illness.
This principle aligns with a philosophical notion: internal causes are the decisive factors in the development of change. When a person falls ill, experiencing fever, cold, and runny nose, a doctor might say: “You have a cold. The weather has been unpredictable, and you caught wind and cold.” These are external causes. However, why does the unpredictable weather cause you to catch a cold while others do not? The root cause is that your immune system is weakened, unable to resist external disturbances, making you prone to illness. The heart governs the five organs and six bowels; to prevent the body from being invaded by disease, one must first maintain internal harmony, allowing the five organs and six bowels to be harmonious. Even if one or two organs are not harmonious, the heart can adjust them. If the heart cannot achieve harmony, it is like a building with an unstable foundation; a strong wind could easily destroy it.
To achieve internal harmony, one must maintain a balance of emotions: not allowing sadness or joy to harm the body; when faced with anger or worry, one should try to broaden their perspective and think of the positive aspects; and one should not take everything too seriously. The saying “sometimes it is wise to be muddled” reflects a high level of health preservation.
Illness Arises from Doubt—The Mind Creates Disease
Being attentive to one’s health is generally a good thing; however, one must guard against “excessive concern”. Some individuals become overly focused on their health, suspecting they have some “incurable disease” at the slightest discomfort, rushing to the hospital for checks, only to find all indicators are normal. For instance, someone reads in a medical journal that hepatitis can be hereditary, and immediately their complexion changes, fearing they have the same disease as their father, who suffers from liver disease. Upon examination, they find they are perfectly healthy.
A doctor friend once shared a story: a person came to him, claiming to have bloating and even difficulty with gastric motility, asserting, “I must have stomach cancer.” After examination, the doctor found it was merely a case of indigestion. When asked why he jumped to the conclusion of stomach cancer, he replied that he read it in a book and became increasingly convinced he had that disease.
This is known as hypochondria. Patients with this condition exhibit heightened anxiety and concern over minor discomforts, actively seeking the causes of their discomfort. Moreover, their reported symptoms are often scattered and diverse, affecting different body parts, and they describe their symptoms in detail. For example, in the second case, the individual claimed to feel the movement of their stomach, which is something a person cannot actually perceive.
Individuals suffering from hypochondria typically possess sensitive, suspicious, and stubborn personality traits, coupled with a lack of medical knowledge, often misapplying medical information, leading to delusions. Some may have minor health issues but perceive them as severe, causing constant worry and potentially triggering hypochondriacal thoughts.
When a person develops hypochondriacal thoughts or suffers from hypochondria, they become trapped in endless distress, harming both their physical and mental health, and may incur financial burdens from unnecessary medical consultations. Therefore, those with hypochondriacal tendencies must strive to trust doctors and scientific diagnoses, which can help alleviate or even eliminate these thoughts.
To dispel hypochondriacal thoughts, it is crucial to maintain an optimistic emotional state and eliminate the fear of disease. “Mental ailments require mental remedies”; if one cannot trust the doctor’s words or the hospital’s examination results, the issue must be resolved psychologically to fundamentally free oneself from the “disease” of the body.
Those with hypochondriacal tendencies should engage more with friends and family, as broadening one’s experiences can lead to a more open mind. It is also beneficial to learn some medical knowledge, rather than misapplying it to oneself, as this is the fundamental way to solve the problem.
Excessive Joy Harms the Heart; Sudden Death Often Results from Extreme Joy Leading to Sadness
In ancient times, there was a saying about the “Four Joys”: encountering sweet rain after a long drought, meeting an old friend in a foreign land, the wedding night, and achieving academic success. Such sudden overwhelming joy can lead to “qi relaxation”, meaning the heart qi disperses, causing blood circulation to weaken and stagnate, resulting in symptoms like palpitations, heart pain, insomnia, and forgetfulness. The idiom “forgetting oneself in joy” illustrates that excessive joy can lead to a loss of control over one’s physical actions. In the writings of Qing Dynasty physician Yu Chang, there is a recorded case: “Once, a newly wealthy person, feeling elated on horseback, did not make it back home and died laughing.” In the “Yue Fei Biography”, Niu Gao, after defeating Jin Wuzhu, became overly excited, laughed three times, and could not sustain his qi, collapsing and dying immediately. Such “tragic comedies” still occur today.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2006, a healthy 64-year-old man, Liang Bo, experienced chest pain and profuse sweating after celebrating the festival with his children who had returned home. He was rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction with arrhythmia and heart failure. At that time, he was cold to the touch, and his body was in severe shock. The doctors quickly devised a strict treatment plan, and after a series of emergency measures, his condition gradually stabilized.
However, before the doctors and nurses could catch their breath, they heard someone urgently calling, “Doctor, help!” Another patient was brought in with a similar emergency. This patient had also gathered with family but had a history of hypertension and cardiomyopathy. Overwhelmed by the joyous occasion, he suffered a heart attack and heart failure. Upon admission, his heart rate was only 30-40 beats per minute, and he was cold and disoriented. The doctors remained calm, administering treatments to manage arrhythmia, increase heart rate, protect the myocardium, and combat heart failure, quickly stabilizing his condition.
These two cases remind us that excessive joy and excitement are detrimental to health. Overexcitement can also lead one to the brink of disaster. Moreover, for those who frequently endure immense pressure, excessive excitement can bring them closer to the brink than excessive sorrow. Why is this?
A person’s psychological resilience is similar to their physiological immune capacity. Frequent exposure to immense pressure is akin to constant bacterial invasion, causing the psychological defenses to remain in a state of readiness, allowing one to maintain normal functioning without collapsing. In contrast, excessive excitement can be drastically different for those who regularly endure significant pressure; the contrast to their long-standing suppressed psychological state can lead to catastrophic consequences. Those who have struggled for a long time, suddenly achieving competitive advantage, or those who have longed for a goal and finally reached it, may find themselves fainting on the podium or unable to live normally after finally being freed from burdens.
To prevent such tragedies, it is equally important to guard against excessive excitement as it is to guard against excessive sorrow. This requires learning to release psychological pressure. To release overwhelming joy, one can take in the beauty of nature, the warmth of friends, or even create a mental “boxing ring”. Some individuals with lower psychological resilience or those who are physically weak may often resort to conservative methods to cope with sudden joy, which can be a wise approach.
Anger Harms the Liver; Anger is a Trigger for Chronic Self-Sabotage
Modern people understand that anger can harm the body, and our ancestors recognized long ago that anger is one of the primary sources of disease. It not only depletes the body’s blood and qi energy but is also a cause of various illnesses. The “Huangdi Neijing” states: “The onset of all diseases arises from dryness, dampness, cold, heat, wind, rain, yin, yang, joy, anger, diet, and lifestyle.”
Long-term anger leaves traces on a person, visible from their appearance. For instance, someone with a long-standing bad temper often shows signs of baldness. A person with a prominent crown and a pointed head shape is likely to have severe anger issues, while those with a double-pointed M-shaped hairline on the sides of the forehead are typical of irritable individuals.
Why does anger lead to baldness? TCM believes that when a person gets angry, the qi rushes upwards, heating the top of the head, which can eventually lead to baldness. Severe anger can sometimes cause internal bleeding in the liver, and in more serious cases, it can lead to vomiting blood, which originates from the liver. In less severe cases, the bleeding remains within the liver, forming a hematoma over time. While these may sound alarming, they are indeed true.
Some individuals often harbor pent-up anger, which can create what TCM refers to as “horizontal counterflow” of qi in the chest and abdomen. Women who suppress their anger are at a higher risk of developing lobular hyperplasia and breast cancer.
There are also those who appear to have good temperaments outwardly, but internally, they are often angry or anxious. This can lead to duodenal ulcers or gastric ulcers, and in severe cases, it can cause gastric bleeding. Such individuals often have particularly high foreheads, with a rounded shape above the forehead indicating early baldness.
Some people frequently experience abdominal bloating, often attributing it to gastrointestinal issues, but it is actually due to poor qi and blood circulation; when they get angry, the qi sinks downwards, causing discomfort.
TCM posits that anger harms the liver, and when the liver is damaged, it is easier to become angry; anger can generate liver heat, which in turn makes one more prone to anger. This creates a vicious cycle. Therefore, it is essential not to overexert oneself and to pay attention to nurturing blood and qi to maintain a more even temperament.
In hospitals, patients with weak constitutions can sometimes face life-threatening situations when they become angry. For example, patients with excessive phlegm may experience severe asthma attacks when angry, leading to respiratory failure and death.
Thus, it is evident that anger can lead to numerous health issues. Therefore, in daily life, one must strive to avoid anger. Not being angry does not mean suppressing anger; rather, it involves nurturing the body and mind, broadening one’s perspective, and cultivating a mindset that allows for forgiveness of others’ faults, eliminating the thought of anger altogether. If the environment of life or work makes it impossible to avoid anger, one might consider changing their surroundings.
If it is truly impossible to control anger, what can one do to minimize the damage after becoming angry? The simplest method is to immediately massage the Tai Chong point (located in the depression behind the first and second metatarsal joints on the dorsum of the foot) to help disperse the rising liver qi. This point may be quite painful and should be massaged repeatedly until the pain subsides. Alternatively, consuming foods that help disperse liver qi, such as dried tangerine peel or yam, can also be beneficial. A simple way to calm down is to soak one’s feet in hot water, maintaining a temperature of 40-42°C, for a duration that varies by individual, ideally until one begins to sweat from the shoulders and back.
Open your heart and consider what in life is worth getting so angry about? Anger is punishing oneself for the faults of others, which is a foolish act! Some individuals have lost their lives due to anger, such as Zhou Yu in the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”; it is more accurate to say he died from foolishness rather than anger. Therefore, even if something infuriating happens, for the sake of health, please adopt a heart as vast as the ocean to extinguish the flames of anger within.
