A Nuanced Approach To Anxiety Through The Use Of The 5 Elements
Anxiety is a term that is all too familiar for most people. Immediately upon hearing the word, one generally makes a set of associations. It may be heart palpitations that come to mind, racing thoughts, knots in the stomach, or becoming frozen with fear. There are many different manifestations from person to person. Yet because these varied manifestations all fall under the umbrella term of anxiety, we can easily make the mistake of overlooking the precise nature of an individual’s presentation, and therefore fall short at treating it in a way that allows for real shifts and healing to occur. The five element theory of Chinese medicine, though, provides a unique lens for understanding and treating the array of symptoms that we call anxiety.
The elements are fire, earth, metal, water and wood. Each element has an associated organ, color, smell, season, emotion, body part, time of day, body type, the list goes on… It is a unique map in which the different associations can be deciphered. So, if someone comes to an acupuncture session with the complaint of anxiety, what follows is a series of questions to begin deciphering the exact nature of the problem to form a working diagnosis based on the five element correspondences that will guide acupuncture treatment.
So, for example, let’s look at someone whose anxiety takes the form of teeth-grinding and resulting jaw tension with stomach upset and intense worry. Here we would begin to think about both the wood and earth elements. Wood has a driving force to it. It is the energy of the spring season that pushes plants up out of the ground, it wants to move forward. When in balance, things come to fruition at the proper time, but when out of balance, the wood element can become impatient, wishing for things to happen other than as they are, resulting in frustration, a common companion to teeth grinding. Along with this, the person has begun to worry because they feel inadequate in some way. Worry is an emotion associated with the earth element which governs the stomach and spleen, hence digestive upset, knots in the stomach, and general uneasiness.
That wood and earth presentation of anxiety is very different than the person who experiences heart palpitations, insomnia, and panic. In this latter case we would begin to look at the fire and water elements, as fire is associated with the heart (palpitations) and it’s likely that the water element is not anchoring fire as it should, causing insomnia. Think of fire as moving upward and outward, whereas water moves downward and allows for settling. Panic is, in essence, fear, and fear is the emotion associated with the water element being out of balance.
These are just a couple examples of the different presentations of anxiety. There is so much nuance available for diagnosis in Chinese medicine, and treatment becomes even more refined when the names and functions of the roughly 365 acupuncture points are utilized.
Your presentation of anxiety is unique to your body, your constitution, and your story. Treating it otherwise does a disservice to your uniqueness, which is an extension of your purpose. The ultimate goal of Chinese medicine is to remove that which blocks your full expression, and allow your true nature to manifest. All beings have a special purpose to manifest, and deserve the opportunity to live it out to the fullest.