Defecation is a complex and coordinated physiological reflex activity that is not only a nonconscious reflex but also under the conscious control of the higher brain centers. Many of the causative factors of constipation are still not fully understood, but Western medicine has realized that, as in most functional disorders, psychological factors play an important role in the initiation, exacerbation and persistence of functional constipation. What is functional constipation? Functional constipation is the most common type of chronic constipation. If you continue to have difficulty in defecating for a period of time, have fewer bowel movements, and feel like you can’t finish your bowel movements all the time …… these physical manifestations are telling you that you are constipated! With the aging of society and the accelerated pace of life, the incidence of functional constipation is increasing year by year, especially the proportion of female patients is larger. What is Emotional Spirit? Emotion and will, refers to changes in emotions such as happiness, anger, worry, thought, sadness, fear and fright. The phrase “anger is qi up, happiness is qi slow, sadness is qi down, fear is qi down, fear is qi chaos, and thought is qi knot” illustrates the impact of different emotions on the human body. Emotional stimuli that are too strong, persistent or out of control, beyond the normal response capacity of the individual, will cause dysfunction of the internal organs and qi and blood, and become pathogenic factors, such as violent anger, great sadness, great joy and other emotions that fluctuate too intensely in a short period of time, depression, loss of will, prolonged sadness, excessive worry, prolonged tension and anxiety and other undesirable states of mind that last for a long time. Clinically, it is very common for emotional stimuli to cause changes in psychological and physiological functions and consequent morbidity, such as anger leading to epistaxis caused by upward rebellion of liver qi and excitement inducing coronary heart disease or myocardial infarction. How does emotional disorder trigger constipation? Chinese medicine recognizes that long-term and excessive emotional and mental stimulation can cause imbalance of yin and yang, rebellion of qi, obstruction of qi and blood flow, affecting the physiological functions of the internal organs, damaging the heart and mind, and thus producing internal injuries to the internal organs such as phlegm, stasis and depression. Accordingly, the pathogenic hypothesis of “psychological factor, dysfunction, cellular disease, and tissue structural change” has been proposed. If you are depressed, depressed, or unhappy, your liver will lose its control and your qi will become stagnant. Qi is the handsome of blood, Qi stagnation will also stagnate blood, intestines lose moisten, constipation. And qi depression for a long time, the fire hurt yin, and yin deficiency will aggravate constipation. Sadness and excessive thinking, spleen depression, lifting dysregulation, will lead to intestinal Qi stagnation, the bowel movement is weak, the loss of the transport down, the dregs within the stop. Therefore, the emotion to disorder is constipation can not be ignored as a causative factor. A psychological test for people with defecation disorders showed that their anxiety and depression scores were significantly higher than those of normal controls. Many studies have shown that patients with functional constipation have significant abnormalities in their psychosocial status. A survey of 2870 patients with functional constipation in the United States, France, and Germany found that patients with functional constipation scored significantly lower than the non-constipated population in terms of social functioning and general health. A study of the relationship between constipation and psychological factors in 28 female patients with refractory idiopathic constipation showed that 61% (17/28) of the patients had a recent psychosomatic disorder and 64% (18/28) had a psychosomatic illness. Numerous research studies have also confirmed that the occurrence or exacerbation of functional constipation is often associated with negative emotions in work and social experiences. From the above surveys, it is clear that psychological factors have an impact on constipation. However, this is still controversial in the medical community and requires further analysis and research. Recently, a report on the “brain-gut axis” further supports this view. The brain-gut axis is a bidirectional pathway linking cognitive emotions to the neuroendocrine, enteric nervous system and immune system. Central pain, emotions and behaviors affect gastrointestinal sensation, dynamics and secretion; visceral activity in turn affects central pain, emotions and behaviors. In other words, if you are in a bad mood, have negative emotions such as depression and schizophrenia, it will affect the gastrointestinal function and the work of the digestive system. In your daily life, please take care to regulate your emotions and do not let emotional disorders invite other problems to appear. If you already suffer from functional constipation, regulate your emotions and relax your body and mind, you have to keep a positive mindset, get rid of depression and anxiety in your heart, and believe that after treatment and unremitting efforts, health will return to you.