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Some Psychological Acupoints Plus Social Phobia
By Brian Benjamin Carter, MSci, LAc


I am aware that the acupoint Stomach 41 has been used classically for the emotions. Maybe also Ben Shen GB 13 and Shen ting Du 24? They have the shen character that means "spirit" in their name. My use of them is not because of their names but because from books published by paradigm press and what senior clinicians or other people say. Their naming does help me remember their possible uses. But then at the moment I don't remember the name of say kidney 4 (which has been recorded in at least one pre modern times as useful "when want to close doors and be inside all the time, not wanting to go out?")

Marco


Marco,

Of course, when you say "classically," you mean historically and according to what classic Chinese acupuncture texts say in regards to the psychological effect of specific acupoints. And in this context, "spirit" may mean the essence of something, or the more subtle aspects of something. It could be interchangeable for the mind and emotions, depending on the context.

Stomach 41 (picture) is the "river point" of that channel. It drains or regulates the flow of qi in the whole Stomach channel. It will indirectly calm the Heart and drain sea of marrow. The Stomach channel crosses acupoints Du 14, 26, and 24. These are 3 points with specific psycho-emotional actions. Philippe Sionneau adds that all wrist points treat psycho-emotional disorders. I'm speculating that (according to Master Tong imaging taught me by Robert Chu; wrist = ankle) the ankle points would too, and Stomach 41 is an ankle point.

In the classics, Gallbladder channel (picture) points were used as auxiliaries for psychological problems. They were not considered major psychological points. My experience is that GB44 and 43 drain heat that may come from the Gallbladder or Liver, so they could discharge heat the either comes from, or causes anger, frustration, and irritability.

Du 24/GV24 (picture), according to Philippe Sionneau's research of the classics, is, "a little known point rarely in modern acupuncture. It's one of best points to calm the spirit. The ancients named it 'spirit courtyard,' which makes it one of 9 'palaces' of the brain form the Taoist tradition. You could also call it, "house of spirit." It has numerous contemporary indications - agitation, stress, depression, insomnia, me he qi, and zang zao. In the classics it was used for dian, people who think they are possessed, deranged speech, and inclination to excessive laughter. It can be used as a calming point in diseases with heavy pain - it has a pain-relieving and sedative action - it calms spirit to calm the pain."

Kidney 4 (picture) is the luo (connecting) point of the channel. Some of its functions to me look like a pattern of Kidney vacuity and Bladder repletion, so I think of it as bringing the replete qi from the Bladder channel back to the Kidney. Kidney channel vacuity leads to fear, so I would think of the person who wants to stay inside all the time as a Kidney vacuity social phobic. The possible Bladder repletion could lead to back pain, headaches, eye pain, or even painful urination. This is the best way I know of to understand the luo (connecting) points - look at the relative states of the affected channel and its paired channels.

Sources:

  1. Philippe Sionneau post-Pacific Symposium November 2002 seminar on the Psycho-emotional Points According to the Classics
  2. Robert Chu (read an interview with him)
  3. Peter Deadman's Manual of Acupuncture (check it out on Amazon.com)

Acupuncture Classics studied by Philippe Sionneau:

Lei Jing Tu Yi
Pu Ji Fang
Qian Jin Yao Fang
Qian Jin Yi Fang
Shen Ying Jing
Yi Xue Gang Mu
Yi Zong Jin Jian Ci Jiu Xin Fa
Zhang Shi Yi Tong
Zhen Jiu Da Cheng
Zhen Jiu Da Quan
Zhen Jiu Feng Yuan
Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing
Zhen Jiu Ji Cheng
Zhen Jiu Quan Sheng
Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing


All the best!
B

For more Social Phobia info, see the links on our diseases and conditions page.



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All information herein provided is for educational use only and not meant to substitute for the advice of appropriate local experts and authorities.

Copyright 1999-2074, Pulse Media International, Brian Carter, MSci, LAc, Editor