Arianna Bacon Butcher, Bing Yang 楊冰
(New England School of Acupuncture Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences University)
Abstract: In the ancient texts of The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine, the author debates the importance of not overindulging in the five emotions: happiness, anger, sadness, worry, or fright, indicating they cause disease in the body. Studies done in psychology and Western medicine in modern day have reflected that overindulgence in emotion is heavily correlated with various diseases, particularly in relation to the heart. In modern day, it is seen now that both over-emoting in any specific emotion as well as having a lack of joy may lead to disease in the body. This paper reflects the ideas both in the ancient texts and modern-day studies that indicate the human experience has not drastically shifted with regards to emotions and disease, but also uncovers that a lack of joy may be just as indicative of disease in the present day.
Keywords: Traditional Chinese Medicine, psychology, acupuncture, emotions
In the span of a human’s lifetime, one should, and will, experience the five main emotions of Traditional Chinese Medicine Theory. These emotions include happiness, anger, sadness, worry or fear, and fright. In a what Traditional Chinese Medicine would deem a healthy human, these emotions should be free flowing, none of them should overpower any of the other emotions, and a person should be able to return to a neutral state after a period of experiencing any of these emotions. If a person experiences too much of one emotion, they are subject to disease and misfortune due to over-emoting. According to The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine: A New Translation of the Neijing Suwen with Commentary, Huang Di states “Overindulgence in the five emotions – happiness, anger, sadness, worry or fear, and fright – can create imbalances.” (Ni, 1995; 20). While not overindulging in emotions is the ideal way to live according to the ancient texts, it is rather unreasonable and unrealistic for modern day people to live a life of neutrality, the unvarying accessibility to world events and ceaseless comparisons to other people make overindulgence in emotions a commonplace experience in the modern world.
In psychology, there are often studies done to understand the impact that overindulgence in emotions has on people. According to an article published by Gary Bousman (1995) in the Vibrant Life psychology magazine, anger can present itself in the body as a poison, both for mental health as well as physical health. In this article, Bousman interviews Dr. Redford
Williams, a psychiatry professor at Duke University Medical Center, who states that anger tends to raise the doses of adrenaline and cortisol in the body. This can lead to increased blood pressure and forces the heart to work in overdrive. According to this professor, he claims that although many people get angry on occasion and it is normal for one to express this emotion, the danger with regard to anger and our health often occurs when anger becomes recurring and frequent. Similar to how Huang Di Nei Jing spoke about overindulgence in anger, professor Williams also notes that anger is a natural feeling, but over time, if overindulged, it may cause distress and long-lasting health issues in the body. In TCM, anger is often associated with Liver Yang Rising which can cause tension in the head, blood pressure to rise, and eye problems. Both TCM and Western medical views on anger seem to align, both alluding to anger having a strong effect on the heart, which in TCM is the source of all emotions.
With regards to rumination or worry, or what in modern times is referred to as anxiety, a researcher for Mind, Mood & Memory spoke about how a long-term research study of 900 adults showed that those who had anxiety were twice as likely to die than those who did not have anxiety (Mind, Mood & Memory, 2013). It was found that worry had a high correlation with cardiovascular issues, lack of self-care, insomnia, and obesity due to eating habits shifting, all of which give rise as comorbidities in health issues leading to earlier death. Similarly, Huang Di states, “excessive worry will deplete spleen qi… Dampness can damage flesh and muscles, but wind can dry the damp. Too much sweet taste can injure the flesh by creating fat…” (Ni, 1995; 21). As is noted both the Yellow Emperor’s Classic as well as the article on anxiety and health, it is noticeable that the outcomes of overindulging in anxiety or worry can create both heart and spleen issues. Both in Western medicine and TCM, injuries to the heart and spleen can create long lasting health disturbances and lead to worsening disease over time.
Grief, although a normal process of life and death, also has an impact on a person’s life and potentially one’s health if overindulged. According to Mind, Mood & Memory (2010), excessive grief for long periods of time can lead to “suicide… depression, chronic sleep disturbance, cancer, cardiac disease, and hypertension.” Yellow Emperor’s Classic speaks more about changes in skin, hair, and lungs. This is different from what happens in what someone would deem as modern-day grief, but, similar to TCM, all emotions are related to the heart and cardiac disease displays this well. Oftentimes the lungs in TCM also can relate to feelings of depression, inability to let go, and sleep disturbances due to low energetic tendencies. These align heavily with what ultimately could lead to more disturbances down the line as indicated by Western medicine.
The fright or shock is both experienced and spoken about widely in ancient Traditional Chinese Medical texts as well as Western medicine. In a study done by Steptoe and colleagues (1995), the researchers focused on stage fright in student actors and the impact on their health. What they found was that students who suffered from stage fright had an increase of “difficulty eating properly, increased irritability, and more frequent skin rashes.” This is very interesting because although there were no examples of sudden fright which the Yellow Emperor’s Classic speaks about, it shows that there may be an impact of spleen (difficulty eating), liver (increased irritability), and lung (frequent skin rashes) on fright and what would be the kidney. This makes sense according to TCM because the spleen controls the kidney, the kidney feeds the liver, and the lung feeds the kidney. The interdependencies on the organs in TCM is a complex concept not fully spoken about in Western medicine, however, it does allow for the idea that sudden fright or shock has an impact on several Western organs in the body as well relating to more of the Mind-Body theories of emotions and internal organs.
According to the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine “too much joy can cause a depletion of heart qi.” (Ni, 1995; 21). While this may be true in the ancient times, joy is arguably one of the hardest emotions to attain in modern day. According to an article by Mind, Mood & Memory (2010), laughter and joy can activate blood glucose levels, decrease amounts of blood chemical in kidney disease and diabetes, can lower blood pressure, increase circulation, boost the immune system, and relax muscles. Although some may argue that an excess of happiness or joy may translate more to mania, as in bipolar disorder in modern day, it is also important to note the lack of joy in modern day in comparison to other emotions. It could be argued that most people on average do not experience enough joy and it makes it difficult to attain “too much joy” in modern day.
For the most part, it seems that the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine may still be pertinent today with regards to emotions. Even in modern day, it is important to keep one’s emotions in check no matter which emotion. One could argue with the incessant lack of joy that people experience, that joy is actually the medicine for counteracting the negative emotions of anger, sadness, worry and fear. As we see in all of the cases, both modern and ancient, that have discussed emotions, it seems as though they all have an impact on the heart. As is taught in Traditional Chinese Medical theory, the Mind, or Heart, or Shen all have an impact on every emotion. Interestingly, the effect of joy influences diseases associated with each of the elements. With kidney disease and diabetes, joy has shown to lower glucose levels. The liver is related to anger and high blood pressure or liver yang rising; studies show that joy and laughter show a decrease in blood pressure. Laughter and joy boost the immune system, something heavily related to the lung in Chinese Medicine. Muscle relaxation is related to the spleen, and laughter and joy can help with this as well.
In modern day, the general modern public is always on their phones, connected to social media, constantly having a stream of news and misfortune that occurs throughout the world. While in ancient times there were of course several instances of high negative emotions such as dealing with the weather, death and life, and illness, it was more about emotional impact of local issues, all of which were handled through community and dealt with. Now, humans have so much widespread fear, anger, sadness, and worry that it is very difficult to access joy. This is likely why the modern world experiences so much disease. People are so often subjected to excess or overindulgence in worry, anger, sadness and fright and is likely why so many people experience disease such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and autoimmune disorders.
One way for humans to be able to counteract the effect of overindulgence in emotion on human health, is to meditate. Meditation, yoga, and qi gong practices each have a mindset of experiencing every emotion, recognizing it, and letting it go. This is likely important to create the neutral emotional state that is spoken about in the classics. Often times in modern day, those who have the ability to experience emotion and let it go, do not end up having chronic disease or emotion related diseases in their futures. Moving forward, it is important for practitioners to prescribe mediation, qi gong, and yoga therapy to their patients to help reduce the overindulgence in emotion and thus potentially decrease future disease.
References
Bousman, G. (1995, July-August). Anger: it can be like slow-acting poison, robbing you of mental and physical health. Vibrant Life, 11(4), 18+.
Ferrara, E., & Yang, Z. (2015). Measuring Emotional Contagion in Social Media. PLoS ONE, 10(11).
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxymcp.flo.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0142390
Grief can become a health concern: acute grief that lasts six months or more may meet the criteria for a condition that can be successfully treated. (2010, March). Mind, Mood & Memory, 6(3), 3.
Laughter–a powerful medicine: laughing helps reduce stress and dispel anger, anxiety and other negative emotions, among other benefits. (2010, February). Mind, Mood & Memory, 6(2), 3.
Ni, M. (1995). The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine: A New Translation of the Neijing Suwen with Commentary. Shambhala Publications.
Steptoe, A., Malik, F., Pay, C., Pearson, P., Price, C., & Win, Z. (1995). The impact of stage fright on student actors. British Journal of Psychology, 86(1), 27+.
Author information:
Arianna Butcher combines her background in psychology with her passion for holistic healing as an emerging acupuncturist. After earning her Psychology degree from Gettysburg College (2019), she pursued a Master’s in Acupuncture at the New England School of Acupuncture (2025).
Bing Yang is a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist in Massachusetts. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine in the 1990s and her Doctoral degree from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS). Currently, she is the associate professor and Director of Chinese Herbal Programs of New England School of Acupuncture, MCPHS and also maintains a private practice in Boston.
情緒過度及對當代生活的影響
Arianna Bacon Butcher, Bing Yang 楊冰
新英格蘭針灸學院, 馬薩諾塞州藥科健康大學
**摘要：**在《黃帝內經》等古代紀寫中，作者論述了五種情緒，喜、怒、哀、思、恐不宜過度的道理，指出它們會導致身體疾病。現代心理學和西醫的研究表明，情緒過度與各種疾病（尤其是與心臟有關的疾病）密切相關。在當代社會中，過度表達某種情緒或缺乏喜悅感常被視為可能導致疾病的原因。本文經由古代文獻與現代研究，探討情緒與疾病之間的聯繫，指出人類在這方面的體驗並未發生根本變化，同時揭示出缺乏喜悅本身在當今也可能成為疾病的一個標誌。
**關鍵詞：**中醫，心理學，針灸，情緒
在人的一生中，根據中醫理論，應該並且必然會經歷五種基本情緒：喜、怒、哀、思／憂、恐。對中醫認為的健康個體而言，這些情緒應該是自然波動的，任何一種情緒都不應凌駕於其他之上，並且人在體驗一種情緒之後應能夠回歸到中性平和的狀態。如果一個人過度沉浸於某種情緒，就可能因情緒過度而引發疾病與不幸。《黃帝內經·素問》中寫道：〈五志過極，則傷臟。〉
>(Ni, 1995; 第20頁)。雖然古代文獻倡導情緒不過度是理想生活方式,但在現代社會,想要實現情緒上的絕對穩定是相當不現實的,人們持續接觸全球新聞事件以及不斷與他人比較,使得情緒過度變得普遍。
心理學總是會進行研究來探討情緒過度對人的影響。根據 Gary Bousman (1995年) 在心理學雜誌《Vibrant Life》發表的一篇文章,憤怒在身體中表現得如同一種毒素,不僅影響心理健康,也影響生理健康。在這篇文章中,Bousman訪問了杜克大學醫學中心的精神病學教授 Redford Williams 博士,他指出憤怒會提高體內腎上腺素和皮質酸的水平,從而導致血壓升高,使心臟處於超負荷運轉狀態。Williams 教授認為,雖然人偶爾生氣是正常的,但當憤怒成為一種頻繁和持續的情緒時,會對健康造成嚴重影響。這和《內經》中所說的“怒傷肝”相呼應。Williams 教授也指出,憤怒雖然是人類自然情感的一部分,但如果長期過度沉浸其中,將會引發身心的痛苦與持久的健康問題。在中醫理論中,憤怒通常與“肝陽上亢”相關,這種狀態可能導致頭部緊張、血壓升高、眼睛問題等症狀。由此可見,無論是中醫還是西醫,都認為憤怒會對“心”造成強烈影響,而“心”在中醫中是所有情緒的主宰。
關於思慮或憂慮,即現代所謂的“焦慮”,一項長期研究對900名成人進行了跟蹤調查,結果顯示有焦慮症的人比沒有焦慮的人早逝的可能性高出一倍(Mind, Mood & Memory, 2013年)。研究發現,憂慮與心血管疾病、自我照顧能力下降、失眠以及食慾習慣改變所導致的肥胖密切相關,而這些問題最終成為導致早死的共同因素。在《黃帝內經》中也提到:“思則氣結,久則傷脾……濕傷肉,風勝濕,甘傷肉。”(Ni, 1995; 第21頁)。由此可見,焦慮或過度憂慮不僅會損傷“心”,也會損傷“脾”。不論在中醫還是在西醫體系中,心與脾的損傷都會導致長期的健康問題，並可能最終發展為更嚴重的疾病。
悲傷，雖然是生死轉輪中正常的過程，但若沉浸過久，也會對一個人的生活，乃至健康產生重大影響。根據《Mind, Mood & Memory》（2010年）的研究，長期過度的悲傷可能導致“自殺、抑鬱、慢性失眠、癌症、心臟疾病和高血壓”。
《黃帝內經》更多地提及皮膚、毛髮與肺的變化。雖然這與現代醫學對悲傷的理解有所不同，但正如中醫所認為的，所有情緒最終都歸於“心”，而心臟疾病正體現了這種關聯。在中醫中，“肺”常與“悲”相關，且肺主氣，傷肺則常引發抑鬱，難以釋懷、以及由精力低下所引起的睡眠問題。這些表現與西醫對長期悲傷後果的認知非常一致。
“驚”或“震驚”是古代中醫典籍中總是提及，也是現代西醫研究關注的情緒之一。在Steptoe等人（1995年）進行的一項關於學生演員舞臺恐懼的研究中，研究人員發現有舞臺恐懼症的學生更容易出現“飲食困難、易怒以及更頻繁的皮膚過敏或疲病”。這與《黃帝內經》中提到的突發驚嚇雖然不同，但從中我們仍可以看出，“驚”可能影響“脾”（飲食困難）、“肝”（易怒）以及“肺”（皮膚問題），同時也牽款到“腎”。在中醫中，脾主後天、腎為先天，脾可滋養腎，腎又養肝，肺也滋養腎。雖然在西醫中沒有明確提及這些器官的這種互動關係，但在“身心關係”這一理論下，我們可以看到類似的理解框架。由此可知，突發性驚嚇可能同時影響多個器官的功能，從而導致身體出現各種問題。
《黃帝內經》記載：“過喜傷心。”（Ni，1995年，第21頁）。在古代，這種觀點或許是合理的，但在現代社會中，“喜”可能是最難以獲得的情緒之一。《Mind, Mood & Memory》（2010年）指出，笑與喜悅有助於啟動血糖調節、降低腎病與糖尿病患者體內的某些化學物質含量、降低血壓、促進血液循環、增強免疫系統、並放鬆肌肉。尽管有些人可能會將過度的喜悅等同於現代醫學中所說的“躁狂”，但更需要注意的是，與其他情緒相比，當代人普遍處於“喜不足”的狀態。因此，在現代社會中，人們很難體驗到“過度的喜悅”。
由此可见，黃帝內經中对情绪的描述绝大多数仍然適用于現代社會。無論是哪一種情緒，都需要進行適當的調節。人們普遍缺乏“喜悅”這一情緒，因此可以說“喜”實際上是一種對抗“怒、哀、憂、恐”等負面情緒的“良藥”。正如我們在古代與現代案例中所看到的，所有情緒似乎都與“心”密切相關。中醫理論中，“心”或“神”主宰人的一切情感活動。這從“喜”對各臟腑疾病的正向影響中可見一斛。在肾病和糖尿病患者中，喜悅被證明可以降低血糖水平。肝與憤怒以及高血壓或肝陽上亢有關；研究顯示，喜悅和笑聲有助於降低血壓。笑聲和喜悅能夠增強免疫系統，而在中醫中，免疫力與肺密切相關。肌肉放鬆與脾有關，而笑聲與喜悅也有助於促進這一過程。
在現代社會，人們時刻拿著手機，沉浸於社交媒體，持續接收世界各地的災難與不幸。相比之下，古代人更多地面對的是本地事務，如天氣、病症或親人離世，這些問題常通過社區支援來解決。今日，憤怒、憂慮、悲傷與驚恐的普遍過度，讓人難以感受到真正的喜悅，這也可能是現代心血管疾病，癌症，自身免疫性疾病頻發的根本原因之一。
冥想是應對情緒過度對健康的影響的一种有效手段。冥想、瑜伽與氣功等身心修養之法強調感知情緒、接納情緒，並最終學會放下情緒，这就象经典中所说的回歸平衡的情緒狀態。那些能即時處理情緒、不積壓內耗的人，更不易患上慢性病或情緒相關的疾病。因此，建議中醫師與心理治療師鼓勵病人嘗試冥想、氣功、瑜伽等身心療法，以減少情緒過度對身體的傷害，降低疾病发生的可能性。
参考文献
Bousman, G. (1995, July-August). Anger: it can be like slow-acting poison, robbing you of mental and physical health. Vibrant Life, 11(4), 18+.
Ferrara, E., & Yang, Z. (2015). Measuring Emotional Contagion in Social Media. PLoS ONE, 10(11).
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxymcp.flo.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0142390
Grief can become a health concern: acute grief that lasts six months or more may meet the criteria for a condition that can be successfully treated. (2010, March). Mind, Mood & Memory, 6(3), 3.
Laughter–a powerful medicine: laughing helps reduce stress and dispel anger, anxiety and other negative emotions, among other benefits. (2010, February). Mind, Mood & Memory, 6(2), 3.
Ni, M. (1995). The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine: A New Translation of the Neijing Suwen with Commentary. Shambhala Publications.
Steptoe, A., Malik, F., Pay, C., Pearson, P., Price, C., & Win, Z. (1995). The impact of stage fright on student actors. British Journal of Psychology, 86(1), 27+.
Author information:
Arianna Butcher combines her background in psychology with her passion for holistic healing as an emerging acupuncturist. After earning her Psychology degree from Gettysburg College (2019), she pursued a Master’s in Acupuncture at the New England School of Acupuncture (2025).
Bing Yang is a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist in Massachusetts. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine in the 1990s and her Doctoral degree from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS). Currently, she is the associate professor and Director of Chinese Herbal Programs of New England School of Acupuncture, MCPHS and also maintains a private practice in Boston.
作 者 简 介 ：
Arianna Butcher将她在心理學方面的背景與對整合醫學相結合，作為未來的針灸師，她於2019年從蓋茨堡學院畢業，獲得心理學學位；在新英格蘭針灸學院攻讀針灸碩士。
楊冰，中醫師，九十年代畢業於北京中醫藥大學，獲中醫學士，碩士學位，後在美國麻省藥科與健康大學獲博士。現為麻省藥科大學新英格蘭中醫學院教授，中醫系主任，並在波士頓行醫。
