The subject of fear came up this week and it brought many things to my mind. The reason it came up is that someone asked me if they should get a particular procedure to rule out cancer. It isn't that there are any overt signs of cancer, it's just that every time this person gets a symptoms she thinks she has cancer. I know, many of us can relate. This is not abnormal for most of us who worry about our health-espeically given all of the things that most of us have been through to get where we are today. Here is the deeper issue behind what seems like a simple question: what kind of person are you when it comes to your health? Are you a person who wants to test, and if yes, then what will you do with that information? Will you then take it and use natural medicine to apply to the treatment for the diagnosis, or will you apply Western medicine, or both? What will happen to your psyche when you receive the answer to the tests you have undergone? Will your worry increase or decrease?

When I answer these questions, of course, to act within the scope of my practice, I always give the correct clinical answer-which is, to do the test. But, as a human being I understand and am here to listen to the other side of the conversation should a person want to. For many, the issue of not knowing something causes so much anxiety that the shear worry itself will worsen whatever the condition is. Whereas, for others the knowledge of a Western diagnosis will create the same dynamic. So, I do think a person must ask themselves which kind of person they are and act accordingly. This is not to say that the person who does not want testing should stick their head in the sand and pretend they are not unwell. They need to be equally agressive with their health as the person who does not-but knowing what you want from your healthcare and being in control of it in that way is so empowering and important. And being honest with those that you have entrusted to your healthcare about what it is that you need to support your goals will help to make sure that they are met.

Over the years I have come to more deeply understand the complexity of the human spirit and have really learned to honor the idea that our goals and the ways in which we function around our health and lifestyles are not at all alike. When my husband and I were in school, and my teacher used to underscore the importance of that concept, I didn't quite-"get" it. But, I do now. And I have learned to really respect the fact that our minds and "hearts" are made up of very different perspectives and to support each person within their particular mindset.

Fear is a huge issue for people who have IC. Why? Each organ has an emotion that is correlated with it. IC is obviously a condition that expresses itself in the bladder (although not a disease of the bladder). In Chinese medicine, the Water element- the Kidneys and the Bladder are correlated with the emotion of fear. The Fire element, the Small Intestine and Heart (where the disease actually is emanating from are correlated with the emotion Anxiety. Anxiety and fear are two emotions that are often problematic with IC for this reason-because the organs that are correlated with those emotions are the very ones that express in this way emotionally when imbalanced.

These axieties and fears may encompass many different kinds of things. As notated above-they may exists on a larger scale relative to ones' basic feelings about their own body. But they often involve numerous other kinds of fear and anxieties such as driving, flying, traveling in general, being amongst others socially, handling certain kinds of responsibilities or even doing certain kinds of athletic activities. Sex is also a big one too-understandably based on pain and often infection or flaring. However, all of these things, as one gets better, should lessen over time. The fear melts slowly as the Fire and Water energies are more and more balanced and the inflammation reduces. When inflammation is at it's height, fear is often out of control whereas, when the inflammation is more and more reduced it dissipates over time. The San Jiao meridian and the pericardium are also associated with the Fire Element. The San Jiao is related to water metabolism and in this way is quite correlated, in my opinion with the lymphatic system. So, it is interesting to see how this too is related physiologically and emotionally relative to the emotion it is correlated with.

Between the the Fire element and the Water element is the Wood Element-Liver and Gall Bladder. These organs are fundamental as they are the Mother of the Fire Element and the Child of the Water and within those relationships are fundamental to the balance of those other organ systems. In Western terms, the Liver also processes much of the lymph. Interesting? I think so. There are so many different ways to tie in relationships between all of the different organs and organ/meridian systems in Chinese medicine-different schools of thought, many of which I discuss in my dissertation. But basically-IC and many other chronic inflammatory disroders present with a lot of anxiety and fear due to the nature of the imbalance underlying the problem. Understanding this may make things a little easier so that you don't feel like something is wrong with your brain chemistry-it is more often NOT the case! And further back to the opening of this topic, knowing what you want from your healthcare and how you want yout healthcare handled is important to being able to guide your journey with your practitioner/dr. One more thought before I close-the more the Liver is involved within these imbalances-the more depression and/or anger become involved, as these are the emotions (depending on the nature of the imbalance that are correlated with these  organs. Some have correlated anger with the bladder-but, in my opinion that is more related to the bladder problems emanating from a more profound underlying imbalance with Liver involvement. I hope this was interesting.

Dr.M