Anxiety is a very unpleasant type of mental disorder that affects literally millions of people. It's an illness that often dovetails with depression and alternates from mild discomfort to almost uncontrollable panic with physical symptoms. Increased blood pressure and cortisol levels, as well as lowered immune system function, result when stress begins to affect the body. The symptoms often worsen to become depression, fatigue, tension headache, stomach ache, hypertension, migraine, ulcers, heart attack, or colitis. Eventually, stress can lead to even more serious health problems, such as cancer, diabetes or thyroid dysfunction. Although some medications can ease both the depression and anxiety, they may also suffer from undesirable side effects, suppressing the symptoms while making individuals chemically toxic.

According to Chinese medicine, an imbalance of Qi in a particular meridian or organ can cause physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. When emotions are held over long periods of time, or when they result from a particularly stressful or traumatic event, they can become causes of illness. Emotions can result from an imbalanced flow of Qi and can be the cause or the symptom of a disorder. For example, prolonged anger may damage the energetic sphere of the liver, the organ with which it is associated with. On the other hand, an imbalance in the energetic sphere of the liver may result in your feeling either constant anger or the inability to feel anger. This is because each emotion affects the flow of Qi in a different way. When you are angry, the Qi rises to the neck and shoulders. When you are fearful, the Qi descends to the feet. We experience a sinking feeling when we are afraid. When we are angry, our neck and shoulders tightens.