Our addiction to health

Soul

Hey everyone, I don’t know about you but it’s been pretty rough lately. Stress from schoolwork and social obligations have piled up to a pretty exorbitant amount and like many of my classmates, learning about the intricacies of the changing environment every week adds on to our eco-anxiety. I normally don’t share much of my mental health with others but I feel like a little candour will help more people feel like they aren’t in this alone – so if you’re out there struggling, feel free to reach out! 

In TCM, most practitioners believe that our mental and spiritual wellbeing is tied to our physical health. Stress impedes the flow of our meridian pathways and block qi from spreading around our body, causing sickness in areas experiencing a deficit or a surplus. Recommendations typically include herbal remedies (most can be easily incorporated into diets), acupuncture for relaxation and more time spend out in nature

Compared to western methods of drug prescriptions and therapy, TCM provides a more wholesome remedy. It is much more environmentally-friendly with no pharmaceutical waste produced, consumed, or discarded and furthermore, with little to no synthetic chemicals entering the patient’s body, it may even be more healthier for them. If integrated into global healthcare structures (which is highly possible), it has the potential to revamp the way we view and treat mental illness, with a greater emphasis on the environment.   

Part of TCM treatment assesses the lifestyle habits of patients and the environments that they live in; and it is here that we see how incorporating TCM into global healthcare structures can be better for our Earth.

It recognises nature’s paramount importance in our daily routines. It doesn’t just supply medicine, but also is a key factor in our spiritual and mental health. We can argue that with corporate greed, TCM has been the impetus threatening wildlife all over the globe, but I concur that if more people are acutely aware of the direct source of their medicine (rather than processed from nature in pharmaceuticals), more efforts may be put in place to regulate exploitation and promote sustainability. Moreover, when recognised globally as an official medical practice, stricter measures and policies may be enforced to end illegal and unsustainable trade of wildlife products. 

This isn’t just exclusive to TCM. Many other indigenous and cultural practices have a heavy reliance on nature and understand nature’s intrinsic value for the health of its people. Imagine how much forests we could save if we preserved them for forest bathing as a form of therapy for mental conditions (method employed by the Japanese) or, how much less pharmaceuticals could be produced if we all relied a little more on herbal medicines. 

I embolden all of us to be more open the alternatives in medicine. Faced with the threat posed by anthropogenic climate change, we cannot just rely on one model for sustainability. Instead, we need to hear from different views to redesign failing systems. 

Join me next week to discuss environmental injustice in the field of medicine. See you!

« »