So, what does Chinese medicine have to do with psychiatry?
Recently, I saw a TV show (on the Chinese channel here) about medical remedies based on Chinese medical philosophy and methods.
Practically, I learned that eating Chinese dates are good for speeding up metabolism and maintaining weight loss - because they have the property of strengthening the liver, which speeds up metabolism.
Metaphorically, I realized that sometimes the right thing is not to focus on the disease or flaw, but how you can strengthen your body to overcome it, which requires focusing on how your body is strong and resilient rather than how it has weaknesses that manifest through sickness. It also requires, of course, proper care of your body.
I also realized how important it is to also take that approach when it comes to emotional or psychiatric problems - indeed, I've been mostly thinking of myself as mentally deficient in some ways, which does not help. Admittedly, therapy can do this to you if all you do is focus on where you've gone wrong or everything bad that's happened to you. There's a place for this, but it can go too far.
I've decided to not ruminate so much about why in the world people hold ideas that I don't like, or the philosophical and political implications of such ideas, from now on, and let the natural optimism and healthiness of my mind do most of the work in making me feel good. Which is why I'm going to seriously cut down on my reading of political blogs, all of them. Feeling "this is so WRONG, and I'm superior because I KNOW it is" - and we've all felt that way about something at least now and then - may feel good in the short term, but, from my own experience, prolonged holding of this attitude is not good for your own health, physical or mental.
Practically, I learned that eating Chinese dates are good for speeding up metabolism and maintaining weight loss - because they have the property of strengthening the liver, which speeds up metabolism.
Metaphorically, I realized that sometimes the right thing is not to focus on the disease or flaw, but how you can strengthen your body to overcome it, which requires focusing on how your body is strong and resilient rather than how it has weaknesses that manifest through sickness. It also requires, of course, proper care of your body.
I also realized how important it is to also take that approach when it comes to emotional or psychiatric problems - indeed, I've been mostly thinking of myself as mentally deficient in some ways, which does not help. Admittedly, therapy can do this to you if all you do is focus on where you've gone wrong or everything bad that's happened to you. There's a place for this, but it can go too far.
I've decided to not ruminate so much about why in the world people hold ideas that I don't like, or the philosophical and political implications of such ideas, from now on, and let the natural optimism and healthiness of my mind do most of the work in making me feel good. Which is why I'm going to seriously cut down on my reading of political blogs, all of them. Feeling "this is so WRONG, and I'm superior because I KNOW it is" - and we've all felt that way about something at least now and then - may feel good in the short term, but, from my own experience, prolonged holding of this attitude is not good for your own health, physical or mental.