Sutra for anxiety disorders

  Anxiety disorder is a common clinical psychiatric disorder, and its clinical manifestations are mostly similar to those of the Chinese medicine practitioners, such as pennilessness, dirty agitation, depression, insomnia, and irritability. Therefore, clinical treatment of anxiety disorders is often based on the experience of medical practitioners in treating the above mentioned illnesses.  Anxiety disorders focus on the disease of the gods, and the root of the gods is Yang Qi. In Su Wen – Yin Yang Ying Xiang Da Lun (The Great Treatise on Yin and Yang), “Yang Qi is the essence that nourishes the mind and the tendons that are soft”. Su Wen – Theory of Paralysis” says: “Yin Qi is the essence of the mind, but it is the spirit of the mind that is hidden. Therefore, the treatment of anxiety disorders should pay attention to the changes of Yang Qi. The six meridians of the “Treatise on Typhoid” pay attention to the changes in the strength and weakness of Yang Qi and the mutual dependence of Yin and Yang, so that the treatment of anxiety disorders with the application of prescriptions based on the six meridians is often twice as successful.  Yang Qi stagnation, in the Sun, is easy to be frightened, good at fear, Qi rebellion, or discomfort, pain or skin symptoms, such as numbness, ankylosis, etc. The treatment is to harmonize the Ying and Wei, commonly used in Gui Zhi Tang and its analog Gui Zhi plus Gui Tang.  In Shaoyang, it is common to have unrestrained emotions, sullenness, distention and fullness in the chest, belching and sighing, bitterness and dryness in the mouth, so the treatment is to pivot Shaoyang and smooth the qi flow, using Xiao Chai Hu Tang and Chai Hu plus Long Bone Oyster Tang.  Yangming depression, panic and anxiety, irritability, abdominal distension, or pain, insomnia and constipation, treatment is to clear the fire and heat, calm the mind and tranquilize the spirit, with Diarrhea Heart Tang and Gardenia Black Bean Soup; phlegm-heat internal knot, heat disturbing the mind and spirit, restlessness, sleep disorder, red tongue, yellowish coating, slippery pulse, treatment is to clear the phlegm-heat, clear the mind and tranquilize the spirit, with Diarrhea Heart Tang and Xiao Shen Che Tang, with Qing Pao Shi, Tian Zhu Huang and Zhu Li; heat injuring Qi and Yin, restlessness of the mind and spirit, treatment is to Clearing heat and nourishing yin, benefiting qi and calming the mind, using bamboo leaf and gypsum soup and bamboo bark pills.  The disease is in Taiyin, with Qi deficiency as the basis. It is common in old people with physical deficiency, or in people who have been ill for a long time, with tension, anxiety, restlessness, easy to be frightened, insomnia and forgetfulness, reduced diet and mental fatigue.  In Shaoyin is deficiency, and there is a distinction between yin and yang, yin deficiency and yang deficiency, there is a distinction between heart and kidney; deficiency of heart yang, restlessness, palpitation and fear, treatment is to warm the heart yang, with Gui Zhi plus Dragon Bone Oyster Soup; deficiency of heart yin, restlessness and insomnia, nourishing the heart and calming the mind, with Bai He Zhi Mu Tang and Gan Mai Da Zao Tang with addition and subtraction; deficiency of kidney yin, exuberant phase fire, treatment is to nourish yin and diarrhea, with Bai He Zhi Mu Tang and Huang Lian Agaricus Soup; deficiency of heart and kidney yang, palpitation and chest tightness, panic and fear, with Zhen Wu Tang. For heart and kidney yang deficiency, palpitation, chest tightness, and panic, use Zhen Wu Tang with Gui Zhi and Dragon Bone Oyster Soup. For anxiety disorders occurring during menopause, they are often accompanied by pathological changes of liver and kidney deficiency, so the treatment should be to nourish the liver and kidney, benefit the yin and calm the heart, and remove annoyance and calm the mind.  In addition, anxiety disorders are manifested by abnormalities of “Shen”, therefore, while regulating qi and unleashing yang qi, it is also necessary to pay attention to tranquilizing the mind, which is also demonstrated by Zhongjing.  On the basis of evidence-based treatment, emphasis should be placed on the promotion of Yang qi, so as to obtain the secret of Yin and Yang, and at the same time, the reasonable use of tranquilizing drugs is an important condition for clinical effectiveness.