Six depressions

Stagnation of qì, blood, damp, fire, phlegm, and food. Each is readily identifiable:

• qì depression, by pain in the chest and rib-side, and a rough sunken pulse;
• damp depression, by general heaviness and pain, or pain in the joints, usually associated with damp weather, and a fine sunken pulse;
• fire depression (or heat depression), by visual distortion, oppression and vexation, reddish urine, and a rapid sunken pulse;
• phlegm depression, by panting associated with physical exertion, and a slippery sunken pulse;
• blood depression, by loss of power in the lower limbs, bloody stool, and a sunken, scallion-stalk pulse; and
• food depression, which denotes abiding food, by belching of sour gas, abdominal distension, and no thought of food and drink.

Of these six, qì depression is the most important, as it underlies all the others; when qì depression is eliminated, the other forms naturally disappear.

See also depression¹.