This is another article I wrote for the KCWellness Magazine, June 2005:

"A Different View of Emotional Disorders"

Over 28 million Americans take antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. It almost seems we are on the fast track  to LaLa Land. When someone presents an emotional challenge, I always look at organ disharmony as a root cause.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), every organ of the body has an emotion tied to it. When this organ is not functioning properly, then that emotion is in disharmony. For example, the liver's emotion is anger. When the liver's energy is stagnant, a person becomes depressed causing irritability and anxiety. Since the liver is also a controlling organ for hormones, a woman can have greater emotional issues as they relate to the menstrual cycle and menopausal changes.

Our heart is another organ that suffers from prolonged mental stress. Disharmony here causes insomnia, restlessness, memory issues, dizziness, a sense of joylessness and a feeling of not being very well anchored in our body. Clients tell me all the time that they are "thinking too much". The mental videos continue to run but now they are in wide screen and HD. Their minds are constantly running scenarios and analyzing every life situation from birth to death. I call these episodes "when the spirit is not anchored to the heart". Symptoms range from lack of focus, working way too hard on simple tasks, feelings of a lack of accomplishment and many symptoms of attention deficit disorder. When we are not anchored in our reality, our manic behavior brings confusion and disorder to our lives.

According to Chinese medicine there are seven emotions that a person experiences. Joy, anger, worry, pensiveness, sadness, fear and fright. When exposure to any one or more of these emotions is sudden or intense for a prolonged period of time, their emotional health will be in jeopardy. Comfort foods, alcohol and mind numbing drugs either by prescription, over the counter or recreational is how we have been taught to cope. Our roller coaster ride has begun.

Finding the root cause of the emotional upset is the only way to find the begining point that will lead you out of the tunnel. Facing your demons may not sound like much fun but it will help bring you back to good health. Clearing your liver of anger and allowing joy into your heart will start to renew your spirit and make a new person out of you. Without this self-induced revamping we are eventually looking at constant trips to the doctor for more pills that don't work for many and burying ourselves deeper into our private pits of hell.

Our bodies have a constant dialog with us every moment of the day, we need to listen to them. Just as we get angry at being ignored by our spouses and children, so does our body and then it starts to react, usually in a negative manner, to get our attention. We start to develop arthritis, chronic neck and back pain, headaches, strokes, high blood pressure and just constant pain. Every illness, every disease you can manifest in your body can be traced back to an emotional upset.

It's a jungle out there and it is getting worse every day, don't you owe it to yourself and to your loved ones to get your emotional house in order? Decide on counseling if this approach makes sense to you, get a check up up if you feel this is the place to start. Find ways to eliminate stress in your life. See an herbalist for supplementation not drugging and face your issues head on and clean them up. We all have issues and I truly believe that we try to do the best that we can at any given time with the knowledge we have at that moment. Change your diet, by adding protein you will start to think clearer, a proven fact. Cut out the sugar and you will sleep better with less anxiety. Go home, hug your family, turn off the news and talk...bring the joy back into your lives.

Be well!

David Laskowski, Herbalist
Viable Options - N. Kansas City, MO