Affect-mind binding depression

Depression of general mental or emotional activity that results from a dominant mental or emotional activity or response and that causes depression of the activity of qì in the body, ultimately affecting normal functioning of the bowels and viscera and causing disease. In Chinese medicine, mental and emotional activity is viewed in terms of the five minds (joy, anger, worry, thought, sorrow, fear) or seven affects (joy, anger, thought, sorrow, fear, fright, worry), which, when prolonged or excessive, have a narrowing, dampening, stultifying effect on mental life that can depress normal physiological function. For example, anger, which is frequently associated with frustration, can cause depressed liver qì, manifesting as chest and rib-side pain, goiter, gastrointestinal problems, or menstrual irregularities. Excessive thought (cogitation, preoccupation) can damage the spleen and cause digestive tract problems. Affective binding depression often leads to development of fire; see five minds forming fire.