How Emotions and Organs Are Connected in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHow Traditional Chinese Medicine WorksThe TCM ApproachSpleenLungLiverHeartKidneyOther TCM ConditionsEfficacy

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

How Traditional Chinese Medicine Works

The TCM Approach

Spleen

Lung

Liver

Heart

Kidney

Other TCM Conditions

Efficacy

Close

Have you ever wondered why you feel flutters in your stomach when you’re anxious or tightness in your chest when stressed? In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM),emotionsand physical health are intimately connected. This integrated mind-body approach to health and healing operates in a dynamic loop where emotions impact the health of the body and vice versa.

For example, according to TCM theory, excessiveirritabilityand anger can affect the liver and result in multiple ailments, including menstrual pain, headache, redness of the face and eyes, dizziness, and dry mouth. Alternatively, imbalance in the liver can result in stormy moods.

Diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine is highly individualized. Once an impaired organ system and/or emotional imbalance is identified, the unique symptoms of the patient determine the practitioner’s treatment approach.

At a GlanceIf you are looking for a mind-body approach to understanding your mental and physical health, consider what you might learn from traditional Chinese medicine. According to this approach, the mind and body are inextricably intertwined. That means that imbalances in your emotions can lead to problems with your physical health—and vice versa. If you want to incorporate some of these practices into your health routine, remember to use caution (and have a word with your doc) before using it to treat specific mental or physical health issues. While it has been practiced for thousands of years, there’s still plenty we need to learn to understand better how it may help.

At a Glance

If you are looking for a mind-body approach to understanding your mental and physical health, consider what you might learn from traditional Chinese medicine. According to this approach, the mind and body are inextricably intertwined. That means that imbalances in your emotions can lead to problems with your physical health—and vice versa. If you want to incorporate some of these practices into your health routine, remember to use caution (and have a word with your doc) before using it to treat specific mental or physical health issues. While it has been practiced for thousands of years, there’s still plenty we need to learn to understand better how it may help.

The Connection Between Mental Health and Physical Health

Traditional Chinese medicinehas been practiced for over 2,000 years, and its use in the United States as part of complementary healthcare has grown dramatically over the last few decades. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, around 1% of U.S. adults used acupuncture in 2002. By 2022, this number had grown to 2.2%.

In TCM, it is believed that emotional imbalances can act as both symptoms and causes for physical issues. Additionally, mental health conditions are linked to specific physical ailments of key organs.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, emotions are narrowed down to five basic feelings that are each associated with a corresponding element and organ in the body:

For example, under the TCM theory, breast distension, menstrual pain, and irritability during menses are treated with certain herbs and acupuncture points that target the liver. Headaches, dizziness, excessive anger, and redness of the face point to an alternative type of liver pattern and are treated in a different way.

What does the liver have to do with migraines or PMS? Organ systems in TCM may include the Western medical-physiological functions, but they are also part of the integrated, holistic body system. So, the entire mind and body may be evaluated and treated to improve a specific health concern.

The liver, for example, ensures that energy and blood flow smoothly throughout the body. It also regulates bile secretion, stores blood, and is connected with the tendons, nails, and eyes.

By understanding these connections, TCM practitioners explain how an eye disorder such as conjunctivitis might be due to an imbalance in the liver. Or, excess menstrual flow may be due to dysfunction in the liver’s blood-storing ability.

On the emotional side, the liver is connected to anger, which when out of balance, can be expressed in the extremes of excess wrath and irritation or as alack of feeling, as in depression orpost-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD). These mental health imbalances can be both symptoms and/or contributing causes of liver dysfunction.

So, when a person is experiencing ailments, TCM practitioners focus on untangling the mind-body imbalances. To improve a person’s physical and mental health, they use a variety of treatments, includingacupuncture, herbal medicines, moxibustion (heat therapy), cupping (a suction procedure that cultivates blood flow), tui na massage (therapeutic massage and bodywork), and nutrition.

In addition to emotions, TCM philosophy believes that other elements, such as dietary, environmental, lifestyle, and hereditary factors, also contribute to the development of imbalances and the body’s ability to heal itself.

Understanding the interplay of each of the five organ-emotion pairings is key to unlocking the healing potential of TCM. Below, we summarize traditional Chinese medicine’s beliefs on how the connections and imbalances between these organs and emotions contribute to basic mental and physical health concerns.

The spleen plays an important part in the body’s immune system and acts as a blood filter, removing old blood cells, bacteria, and impurities from the body.In TCM, the spleen is linked to the following emotions and ailments:

The lungs bring oxygen into the body and remove carbon dioxide. In TCM, this organ is believed to be connected to grief and the following conditions:

Digestion and the processing of nutrients are primary functions of this vital organ.In TCM, the liver is associated with anger, depression, and the below physical symptoms:

The heart pumps blood throughout the body. In TCM, this organ is linked with joy but the imbalance of joy is expressed as either too much (agitation or restlessness) or too little (depression).Below, are the mental and physical ailments linked with the heart:

The kidneys remove waste and excess fluid to make urine. In TCM, the kidney is related to fear, which can manifest aschronic fear or anxietywhen qi out of balance, as well as result in:

Below are a few more conditions related to emotional and organ imbalances that traditional Chinese medicine practitioners may diagnose:

How Effective Is Traditional Chinese Medicine?

Despite the growing popularity and anecdotal evidence, it’s important to note that many TCM treatments and philosophies have not been vetted in the same way as conventional Western medical care. While TCM has been practiced for centuries and has been shown to be effective for treating some conditions—particularly those related to pain and stress—much research is mixed or unclear.

More research needs to be done to determine the efficacy and safety of TCM treatments for specific health issues.

Interestingly, in some cases, the benefits of TCM treatments are correlated to theplacebo effect.However, rather than simply dismissing the efficacy of those TCM practices, these findings reinforce the powerful (and, in many ways, still mysterious) link between mind and body in the healing process, which is the underpinning theory of TCM itself.

The Nocebo Effect: What to Know About the Placebo’s Counterpart

Takeaways

As the symptoms of many alternative medicine TCM syndromes may be linked to a number of serious health conditions, it’s important to consult your traditional medical doctor for assessment as well. Self-treating a health condition and/or avoiding or delaying standard care may have serious consequences.

That said, TCM can be a productive component of an integrative health approach, which many people find to be beneficial to their mental and physical well-being.

What Is Healing Touch Therapy?

8 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Acupuncture: Effectiveness and safety.Lee YS, Ryu Y, Jung WM, Kim J, Lee T, Chae Y.Understanding mind-body interaction from the perspective of East Asian medicine.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2017;2017:7618419. doi:10.1155/2017/7618419Scheid V.Depression, constraint, and the liver: (Dis)assembling the treatment of emotion-related disorders in Chinese medicine.Cult Med Psychiatry. 2013;37(1):30-58. doi:10.1007/s11013-012-9290-yNational Institutes of Health.How the spleen keeps blood healthy.National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Liver Disease.Ye J, Cai S, Cheung WM, Tsang HWH.An East meets West approach to the understanding of emotion dysregulation in depression: From perspective to scientific evidence.Front Psychol. 2019;10:574. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00574National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Traditional Chinese medicine: What you need to know.National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Acupuncture: In depth.

8 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Acupuncture: Effectiveness and safety.Lee YS, Ryu Y, Jung WM, Kim J, Lee T, Chae Y.Understanding mind-body interaction from the perspective of East Asian medicine.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2017;2017:7618419. doi:10.1155/2017/7618419Scheid V.Depression, constraint, and the liver: (Dis)assembling the treatment of emotion-related disorders in Chinese medicine.Cult Med Psychiatry. 2013;37(1):30-58. doi:10.1007/s11013-012-9290-yNational Institutes of Health.How the spleen keeps blood healthy.National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Liver Disease.Ye J, Cai S, Cheung WM, Tsang HWH.An East meets West approach to the understanding of emotion dysregulation in depression: From perspective to scientific evidence.Front Psychol. 2019;10:574. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00574National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Traditional Chinese medicine: What you need to know.National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Acupuncture: In depth.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Acupuncture: Effectiveness and safety.Lee YS, Ryu Y, Jung WM, Kim J, Lee T, Chae Y.Understanding mind-body interaction from the perspective of East Asian medicine.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2017;2017:7618419. doi:10.1155/2017/7618419Scheid V.Depression, constraint, and the liver: (Dis)assembling the treatment of emotion-related disorders in Chinese medicine.Cult Med Psychiatry. 2013;37(1):30-58. doi:10.1007/s11013-012-9290-yNational Institutes of Health.How the spleen keeps blood healthy.National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Liver Disease.Ye J, Cai S, Cheung WM, Tsang HWH.An East meets West approach to the understanding of emotion dysregulation in depression: From perspective to scientific evidence.Front Psychol. 2019;10:574. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00574National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Traditional Chinese medicine: What you need to know.National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Acupuncture: In depth.

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Acupuncture: Effectiveness and safety.

Lee YS, Ryu Y, Jung WM, Kim J, Lee T, Chae Y.Understanding mind-body interaction from the perspective of East Asian medicine.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2017;2017:7618419. doi:10.1155/2017/7618419

Scheid V.Depression, constraint, and the liver: (Dis)assembling the treatment of emotion-related disorders in Chinese medicine.Cult Med Psychiatry. 2013;37(1):30-58. doi:10.1007/s11013-012-9290-y

National Institutes of Health.How the spleen keeps blood healthy.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Liver Disease.

Ye J, Cai S, Cheung WM, Tsang HWH.An East meets West approach to the understanding of emotion dysregulation in depression: From perspective to scientific evidence.Front Psychol. 2019;10:574. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00574

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Traditional Chinese medicine: What you need to know.

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Acupuncture: In depth.

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