Grief


 * IBIS:**

Definition:
a universal human response to loss, separation and/or disappointment. It is also called "bereavement reaction" and is the accepted standard of reactive depression.

Etiology:
The onset of grief usually follows episodes of significant loss and separation: death of a loved one; financial or material setbacks; marital separation or other romantic disappointment; and moving from a familiar place either voluntarily or by force. Usually the condition does not progress into clinical depression, unless the patient is extremely vulnerable (perhaps with no developed support groups to help process the loss) and the upset is marked. Those predisposed to affective disorders are at more risk during the grieving period.

Somatic Therapies:
• qigong • tai qi chuan

Nutrition:
therapeutic foods: • foods that tonify the Lung, pungent foods, Warming foods, Metal foods, Five Phases • foods rich in vitamin A

avoid: • raw, cold foods in winter, coffee, caffeine, fatty foods, rich foods, salty foods, processed foods, sugar and sweet foods

Botanicals
• Anemone pulsatilla (toxic): nervousness, despondency, sadness, depression, tendency to weep (Felter and Lloyd, p. 1592) • Strychnos ignatii (toxic): melancholic, hysterical, disposition to grieve (Felter and Lloyd, pp. 1043-1044)

consider: Delphinium staphysagria (toxic)

Chinese Formulae
• Qing Shu Yi Qi Tang I: Summer-Heat: desire to curl up, apathy, thirst (Yeung, p. 174; Bensky and Barolet, p. 106) • Licorice and Jujube C. (Gan Mai Da Zao Tang): Heart Yin Xu (Deficiency) with Liver Qi Stagnation and Spleen Qi Xu (Deficiency) (Restless Organ Disorder = zang zao): absentmindedness, moodiness, melancholy and crying spells, restless sleep sometimes with night sweats, frequent yawning, red tongue with sparse coating (Hsu, 1980, p. 347; Yeung, p. 102; Dharmananda, 1986, p. 110; Bensky and Barolet, p. 383) • Fu-shen 16 (patent): Shen Disturbance (Dharmananda, 1990, p. 68)

Acupuncture
after assessing the person and palpating, consider these patterns: Heart Yin Xu (Deficiency) with Liver Qi Stagnation and Spleen Qi Xu (Deficiency); Kidney and Lung Yin Xu (Deficiency); Heart Xue Yu (Blood Stasis); Shen Disturbance

» illustrative combinations: • PC-6 and CV-17 (-): soothe Heart; calm the Shen; clear chest and regulate Qi • Kd-4 (listed as "Kd-5") and UB-15; PC-7 and GV-20; St-8, GB-37 and SI-3 when patient weeps without adequate cause (Mann, p. 141) • GV-15, GV-20, CV-11, PC-6, Ht-5 and Sp-6 (also consider Kd-4, GB-34, Lv-5 and Ht-7) for melancholia (Lee and Cheung, p. 324) • Kd-4 (listed as "Kd-5") and UB-15; PC-7 and GV-20; St-8, GB-37 and SI-3: when patient weeps without adequate cause (Mann, p. 141) • CV-11 and PC-6: "sweep away bitterness in the chest" (Ellis, et al, 1988, p. 356) • GV-4 and GV-26 for hysteria with excessive crying (Lee and Cheung, p. 323) • LI-13, TW-3, Kd-4, Kd-6 and LI-2 for hysteria with excessive sleep (Lee and Cheung, p. 323) • UB-60 and SI-3; or GV-26, LI-4 through to PC-8; or GV-20 and PC-6 through to TW-5 for hysterical attack (Lee and Cheung, p. 323) • GV-15, GV-20, CV-11, PC-6, Ht-5 and Sp-6 (also consider Kd-4, GB-34, Lv-5 and Ht-7) for melancholia (Lee and Cheung, p. 324) • consider treatment for "Internal Dragons" or "External Dragons"; External Dragons: GV-20, UB-11, UB-23, UB-61; Internal Dragons: Master point 1/4" below CV-15, St-25, St-32, St-41; In both treatments, sedate first. If the person and the pulses change, fine. If no change with sedation, then tonify. (Worsley) • GB-9 and Sp-15: treat "opisthotonos and sorrowful crying" (Ellis, et al, 1988, p. 158) • UB-15 and Ht-7 (-): tonify and open Heart

Homeopathy
• Cocculus indicus: time passes too quickly, profound sadness • Cimicifuga: thinks going crazy; fear of death; sensation of heavy clouds setting over her; all dark and confused; with weight on head; loquacity, goes from subject to subject; grieved, troubled; sighing; next day joy; mind disturbed by disappointed love • Ignatia: (sighing remedy); silent grief; unable to control emotions and excitement; effects from long, continued grief; bad news; unhappy love; misplaced affections; change of mood; everything you say will be distorted; remedy for contradictions; cannot stand contradiction or fault-finding; oversensitive to pain • Natrum muriaticum: depressed, esp. in chronic disease < consolation; wants to be alone to cry • Phosphoric acid: listless, apathetic, despair; ill effects from grief • Pulsatilla: mild, gentle, tearful; very irritable, bursts into tears when spoken to or giving facts; changeable mentally and physically; vexed about nothing; may have aversion to marriage

Subtle Support
• Mi (Gardner, p. 72, 78) • Fa# (Gardner, p. 82, 87)

mental/emotional: • rhythmic folk songs • County Derry • songs of Steven Foster • Spanish tangos • Brahms' Hungarian dances • Sousa's marches • Strauss' waltzes • Gilbert and Sullivan • Indian Love Call • My Wild Irish Rose • Wishing • Estrellita (Heline, p.18)

Mind/Body
• An important characteristic of altered states is that many of them cannot be dealt with sufficiently without entering into them. At one end is consciousness and awareness, while at the other there is literally no control. Everyone's psychotic corner can be accessed by touching upon a central, mythical, painful issue. (Mindell, 1988, p. 164) • Many years ago, Engel pointed out that grief fulfills all the requirements of a disease process. Most studies have concentrated on the psychological results of grief and the dysfunction associated with it; the physiological consequences are considered less. The persistent reports of infection and neoplasia following shortly after a grief experience demand that the relationship, between grief as a stress mechanism and its consequences via the pituitary-adrenal axis for the depression of the immune system, be explored on a physiological level. (Locke, 1983, p. 94) • "Extreme states are not purely random and meaningless pathological behaviors. Each has a highly ordered, almost mathematical, predictability. One goal of process paradigm has been to demonstrate that the cause-and-effect, illness-and-cure philosophy governing much of psychiatric research and treatment is not the only useful way of either observing or treating the effects of these syndromes. A process paradigm which studies the various channels of human expression and which deals concretely with both individual and collective issues, normal and extreme states, is sorely needed." (Mindell, 1988, p. 162)

• Liver ~ Gan is the home of the Hun (Ethereal Soul); it relates to decisiveness, control, and the principle of emergence; maintains smooth flow of Qi and Xue (Blood); and reflects emotional harmony and movement. » Healthy expressions are kindness, spontaneity, and ease of movement. » Liver Qi Stagnation reflects and accentuates emotional constraint as the Liver's function of facilitating smooth flow in the body is constricted. Stagnation is associated with frustration, irritability, tension, and feeling stuck. With time this pattern tends to produce a gloomy emotional state of constant resentment, repressed anger or depression, along with tightness in the chest, frequent sighing, abdominal tension or distension, and/or a feeling of a lump in the throat with difficulty in swallowing. (Maciocia, p. 216)
 * Chinese psychophysiology:**

• Heart ~ Xin houses the Shen (Spirit) and reveals itself through the brightness in the eyes; opens into the tongue and controls speech, and relates to the integration of the organs and the personality. » Healthy expressions are warmth, vitality, excitement, inner peace, love, and joy. » Heart Xu (Deficiency) signs include sadness; absence of laughter; depression; fear; anxiety; shortness of breath (Seem, p. 28); cold feeling in the chest and limbs; palpitations; cold sweat; inability to speak; memory failure; nocturnal emissions; and restless sleep. » Heart Shi (Excess) signs include false or facile laughter; sobbing; agitated spirit; insomnia (Seem, p. 28); frightful dreams; anxiety; tongue feels numb and heavy; heavy chest; hot sweat; and orange-colored urine. » The Heart is the Emperor of the bodily realm so that when the Heart is disturbed all the other organs will be disrupted. » Mental signs of Heart channel disorders include insomnia, anxiety, and all Shen disturbances. (Seem, p. 27)

• Pericardium ~ Xin Bao is the Minister who protects the Heart, the Emperor, and maintains the order of the Heart energy; and as such may be adversely affected by emotional stresses internally or invasion of Heat externally. The Pericardium is said to be the origin of joy and sadness. » Healthy expressions are joy, happiness, and healthy relationships. » Weakness, dysfunction, and illness are associated with confusion, delirium, nervousness, and psychosis. » Mental signs of Pericardium (Heart Protector) channel disorders include depression, sexual perversion, aversions, and phobias. (Seem, p. 28)

• Mental signs of Triple Warmer channel disorders include emotional upsets caused by breaking of friendships or family relations; depression; suspicion; anxiety; poor elimination of harmful thoughts. (Seem, p. 28)

• Lung ~ Fei governs the Qi; regulates the rhythm of respiration, the pulse, and all bodily processes; is the home of the Po (Corporeal Soul); it relates to strength and sustainability; extends through the skin, controls the pores, and manifests through the body hair. » Healthy expressions are righteousness and courage. » Weakness, dysfunction, and illness are associated with excessive grief, sadness, worry, and depression. Worry depletes the Lung Qi. » Lung Xu (Deficiency) signs include cold shoulder and back; changing complexion; inability to sleep (Seem, p. 28); shortness of breath; changes in urine color; rumbling in the bowels with loose bowel movements; pallor; malar flush; chills; sniffles; sneezing; light cough; and sensitivity to cold.

• Large Intestine ~ Da Chang absorbs water; governs transformation and conveyance of waste from food to form stool; relates to strength and sustainability as the Yang aspect of Metal. » Weakness, dysfunction, and illness are associated with sadness, grief, and worry. Worry depletes the Lung Qi which fails to descend and assist the Large Intestine in its functions. » Healthy expressions are righteousness and courage.

• Kidney ~ Shen stores Jing (Essence) and governs birth, growth, reproduction, development, and aging; houses the Zhi (Will); expresses ambition and focus; governs Water to regulate body fluids; and displays the effects of extreme stress. » Healthy expressions are gentleness, groundedness, and endurance. » Mental signs of Kidney channel disorders include anxiety; fear in the pit of the stomach; sadness; mental and physical fatigue; antisocial tendencies; and laziness. (Seem, p. 28)