Causes of Illness

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that the vitality of spirit is influenced by 7 emotions - joy, anger, pensiveness, worry, sorrow, shock, and fear. Since emotions are closely related to the energetics and functions of the organs, any prolonged excessive emotional state can cause disease in the organ systems. It is stated in the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic that "excessive anger damages the liver, excessive joy damages the heart, excessive pensiveness damages the spleen, excessive sorrow damages the lungs, and excessive fear damages the kidneys." Also, "excessive anger causes qi to rise, excessive joy causes qi to retard, excessive sorrow causes qi to diminish, excessive fear causes qi to fall, excessive shack causes qi to scatter, and excessive pensiveness causes qi to stagnate." In TCM, the emphasis is placed more on the various physiological functions of an organ, rather than on its anatomical structure, because one of the main causes of disease is that of emotional trauma, which results in a malfunctioning of the internal organs.

Emotional trauma is considered an internal cause of disease. It falls under on of the three categories of the causes of disease: the exogenous (external), the endogenous (internal), and those that are neither exogenous nor endogenous. The exogenous causes of disease refer mainly to excessive atmospheric influences; namely the wind, cold, summer heat, dampness, dryness, and fire. That is, if our body can't effectively adapt to the changing seasons, our body's energy flow will be unbalanced and illness can result. The endogenous causes of disease refer mainly to excessive emotional trauma; namely the excesses of joy, anger, pensiveness, worry, sorrow, fear, and shock. The third cause of disease refers to diseases that are form neither external nor internal influences, such as overworking, excessive drinking, overeating, and unregulated sexual activities. Excesses of any of the pathogens can influence the circulation of qi and blood to the internal organs and can cause disease.