Can Traditional Chinese Medicine Cure Anxiety Disorder?

Anxiety disorder is a common mental illness that is very harmful to people. Often, some anxiety patients do some surprising things because of their bad mood. Therefore, treatment of anxiety disorders must be timely. There are many treatments for anxiety disorders that can be tried in addition to some psychotherapy. Traditional Chinese medicine treatment is also a commonly used method, which has a good effect in treating various diseases. So, can traditional Chinese medicine treat anxiety disorder?

TCM dietary treatment for anxiety disorders:

(1) When heat disturbs the mind, or the heart loses its nourishment, the mind becomes restless, and the liver loses its gentleness, there will be persistent tension and anxiety, palpitations, insomnia, sweating, etc.:

①In principle, use cold foods and sour and sweet foods.

② Cold foods, such as burdock, mint, lily, celery, chrysanthemum, purslane, water chestnut, radish, mung bean and a variety of green leafy vegetables; other foods like green tea also have the function of removing heat. Generally speaking, the principle that everyone can grasp is that foods with a stronger bitter taste have a stronger function of removing heat.

③Sweet and sour foods can relieve people’s tension and anxiety, such as tomatoes, sweet potatoes, hawthorn, apples, mountain red, red beans, dates, peony flowers or (tea substitutes), etc. Wolfberry can also be used.

④ For meat, it is recommended to use poultry. Duck, goose, pigeon, quail and black-bone chicken are all good choices.

(2) When liver qi stagnation affects the spleen and stomach, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting may occur:

① The diet adopted in this state is mainly mild, mainly to allow the patient to return to a normal diet first.

② Porridge is ideal, and should be light rice or millet porridge. In my clinical experience, rice porridge is ideal. It should not be too thin or too thick, and should be drunk frequently in small amounts.

③ You can eat yam, white lentil, coix seed, etc., and cook them into soup or porridge.

④ You can hold ginger slices in your mouth or add them to dishes.

⑤ Avoid eating too greasy food.

(3) Liver depression affects the spleen, which results in poor spleen function, dampness and phlegm accumulation, and a feeling of throat obstruction (plum pit qi):

① Use foods that are believed to both relieve gas and eliminate phlegm.

② The main vegetables include various bamboo shoots, hairy bamboo shoots, winter melon, radish, and Houttuynia cordata (now eaten as wild vegetables), etc.

③ Fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, and watermelons (including the peel) are all good choices.

④ Seafood such as kelp, sea lettuce, etc.

(4) When the heart, spleen and gallbladder are weak, one may be overthinking, have palpitations, be timid, and be easily frightened.

① This type of patient generally has weak physical strength, so the main treatment is to nourish the body. Shellfish, such as oysters and clams, can be used as a way to calm the mind.

② You can eat more slightly warm meat products, such as lamb, beef, old hens and young roosters, etc.

③ These people can take appropriate tonic medicine, such as ginseng and American ginseng, which can be considered to make soup or porridge.

In addition to treatment with traditional Chinese medicine, patients with anxiety disorders should learn to regulate their emotions. They can try to divert their attention so that they can control their emotions. When facing some emergencies, we should learn the correct way to deal with them, strengthen our psychological defense capabilities, and try to have more interests and hobbies. The quality of daily sleep must also be guaranteed and good living habits must be developed.