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!
Jian Xi
October 28, 2020 — 11:47 am
Hey Yin Chuan,
our society has relied on modern medicine for health related purpose for a very long period of time such that it is deeply ingrained into our lives. In schools, if we are sick, we would be asked to procure an MC from a modern medical clinic as opposd to TCM clinics. TCMs MCs are not accepted as a valid “proof” of absence. How feasible is it to convince people to switch to an alternative such as TCM for their medical need, if society does not seem to recognise it?
-Jian Xi
yinchuan
October 31, 2020 — 6:12 pm
Hey Jian Xi, thanks for taking the time to read my blog!
That is super valid in terms of administrative matters that influences how we perceive TCM. The WHO has recently recognised TCM as a legitimate practice of medicine and healthcare services so I do hope that with the coming years, governments and corporations will start recognising TCM as a legitimate form of practice as well. In developed countries, we are privilege enough to deny things that science cannot prove/disprove; so in order to convince these people, more research needs to be conducted on the uses of TCM first. Alternatively, we could learn, unlearn and relearn – ie to say re-evaluate our education systems. While having theories and concepts proven scientifically is vital to ensure the safety of our actions, we shouldn’t encourage the behaviour to shun what cannot be proven as well. If we inculcate values of acceptance and open-mindedness towards other cultural practices, this wouldn’t be such a huge issue. Hope this answers your question!
ENV3102
October 28, 2020 — 1:01 pm
Hi Chuan,
Great post overall. However, the well-founded knowledge that Nature is restorative (as we saw in week 9) has led to many initiatives, including in Western medicine to increase contact between patients and Nature.
For instance, why do you think so many more recently-built hospitals have incorporated Nature into their design, allowing patients to see greenery, etc. ? In the UK, doctors are even prescribing (literally) time spent in Nature. See this article, for instance. https://www.sciencealert.com/doctors-in-scotland-are-literally-prescribing-nature-to-patients-shetland-gps-pilot-benefits-health-mental
I guess, with science-based medicine so predicated on evidence, it took a lot of studies to generate the evidence to underpin these ideas. When, if ever, do you think doctors in trained in SG (most of whom are ethnically Chinese) will begin to embrace these concepts ?
jc
yinchuan
October 31, 2020 — 7:03 pm
Hey Dr Coleman,
I actually didn’t know that Western medicine has considered this approach, thank you for sharing this with me! From the article however, I noticed that the recommended activity was (in general) just to go outdoors and not necessarily surround yourself with nature. While this is a significant and important step towards seeing nature as a way of healing, I don’t think it will have the same effect as having to Japan’s way of forest bathing where forests are conserved due to their uses of therapy. Nonetheless, it’s always great to hear about progress!
The issue in Singapore is rather complicated so I am not sure if I can make a clear stand about this. The acceptance of TCM varies between generations, cultures, income levels, and even gender. Since TCM MCs are not officially accepted by institutions and most corporations (as Jian Xi has mentioned in one of his comments), the way we perceive it will rarely be in the positive – especially if one is unfamiliar with it. That being said, the fact that acupuncture has been inculcated in some hospitals is a significant step for our acceptance to TCM as a proper medical practice here. However, I do want to note that we need to be mindful of other culture’s acceptance of TCM as well to avoid imposing Chinese values and beliefs on other ethnicities.
Hope this answers your question and thank you!
Joanna Coleman
November 4, 2020 — 4:29 pm
Thanks for your reply, Chuan !
To learn more about studies demonstrating that time spent in Nature (including ones that look at the type of activity and Nature space), you can go to that slide from week 9 lecture and click any of those papers as a starting point. Or go to Google Scholar and type “Contact with Nature health benefits”. There’s a lot of very cool research.
That is, assuming this interests you.
I totally agree that nobody should impose their beliefs on others and if somehow my comment implied otherwise, then that’s my mistake in how I expressed myself. I thought Jian Xi’s point was very interesting and I had no idea that such MCs weren’t accepted. I’m not sure I’d have even noticed if a student gave me an MC from a TCM clinic or, if I noticed, that I’d care one way or the other, e.g., not accept it.
You know what all this is making me curious about ? Considering how much emphasis I place on env justice and how I’ve highlighted some issues facing indigenous peoples… do BES students think the ancestral knowledge of these peoples and their traditional medicine practices are more “worth preserving” than TCM ? Meaning, does the association with marginalised groups lead to greater respect / sympathy for these practices ?
Thanks for creating a blog theme that has challenged my thinking !
yinchuan
November 5, 2020 — 11:11 am
Hi Dr Coleman,
With regards to your last question, I actually conducted a really quick interview with 5 members of the BES community. However, to present my data as a reply to a comment felt a little disproportionate to me. Hence, the summary of my findings are in the post here!
Thank you and I hope you enjoy it!