Chinese Medicine: Can This Help Treat Mental And Emotional Health Issues?

My name is Mark Tryling. I am with Meridian Harmonics Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in Bedford, Texas.

I provide traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture services to various age segments of population in our local area.

Personally, my focus is in the area of women’s health, fertility treatments, pain management and treating internal medical conditions using pharmacy grade Chinese herbal medicine to replace or supplement the traditional prescription medicines of my patients. So these are some of my conditions that I address and manage on a daily basis.

Chinese medicine is very useful as a tool and a medicine that can be helpful for a whole array of emotional issues ranging from depressions, anxieties to irritability and just even common menstrual-related or post-menstrual and post-menopausal related emotional issues.

In Chinese medicine we believe that emotions are very integrated into your physical body. It is actually a two-way street. Emotional imbalances can manifest physical problems, disorders and diseases and likewise, physical ailments can manifest emotional problems. It is all based on the concept that the energies that provide all the organs and tissues with health and nourishment become irregular in their movement, stagnant or deficient. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are designed to correct and harmonize these energetic imbalances allowing the body's emotional and physical levels to naturally balance themselves without the need for long-term use of prescription drugs that simply mask the symptoms.

So a lot of time when we look at and address emotional health issues we tend to also look at how our physical body plays a role in the emotional being.

So every time when we prescribe acupuncture treatment or prescribe some herbs for patients, we always look and examine that integration issue.

So we call this an integral medicine. We believe that the emotions are very much part of our physical body, so when we treat it we look at both sides of it.

So when we look at anxiety, for example, there are certain herbs that we would use. There are certain acupuncture techniques we would use.

Chinese medicine, being and integral medicine, encompasses a variety of techniques to re-establish health and wellness. In my practice I use a multifaceted approach for each patient in order to get the results we both want. The tools I use to help each patient are acupuncture, my Chinese herbal compounding pharmacy, Chinese dietary therapy, food energetics and a unique approach to exercise. In this way I tackle each patients health issues from various angles and perspectives to get them on the road to health and wellness and stay there. I love to work with patients who like having a partner in their long-term health care.


I also help guide my patients to look at how they can have a better lifestyle in dealing with anxiety. I give them tools, give them techniques, give them things that they can do at home, in their work, that can be helpful to really manage their nervousness and their anxiety.

For example depression, which can range from mild to moderate depression situations. Not every single depression situation needs medications. I have seen many of my patients respond very nicely to Chinese medicine without having to begin or continue prescription drug therapy.

So we are trying to teach a very important aspect of emotional health to our patients. We are trying to teach our patients to have a grasp, have a grip on what they can do to manage emotional issues especially relating to depressions, how they can work with their community, their support communities such as their spouse, such as their friends who can help them go through the depressions better.

So there are things that we do to help them, so that it's not just taking a medication or doing one technique to help them, but rather looking at all the ways that could help in their lifestyle to really help their condition.

About Mark Tryling:
Mark Tryling is a Licensed Acupuncturist in the State of Texas by the Texas Medical Board and is a Diplomat of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology NCCAOM. He has been active in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) profession as well as professional organizations. He has studied and practiced a unique and powerful style of acupuncture known as Balance Method and is the only Balance Method preferred provider in North Texas. Mark Tryling is well known for his groundbreaking work in Chinese pulse diagnosis, called the Pulse Matrix, which he uses to diagnose and treat complex medical conditions. He teaches Balance Method and the Pulse Matrix to other acupuncturists. Mark Tryling is a member of the Texas Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, International Balance Method Practitioners.

Visit Mark Tryling at Meridian Harmonics

Managing Symptoms with Food Energetics

How differently would you approach meals and diet if you didn’t have to concern yourself with the western concept of nutrients: carbs, fats, proteins, amino acids, sugar, vitamins and minerals? In Chinese medicine, diet and nutrition is as different from the traditional western nutritional concept as night and day. Most of our patients require dietary modifications, in addition to their acupuncture and herbal treatments, in order to experience significant progress in the treatment of their health problems.

It’s funny how most people say they want to improve their health, but when it comes to changing their diet or lifestyle they think that they can continue doing the same thing and expect to get different results. Someone once said that’s the definition of insanity. Chinese nutrition and dietary therapy is based on matching specific foods to each patient, based on the energetic and constitution of both. In Chinese medicine, the energetic properties of food are actually more important than their western nutritional content.

Most patients, in our modern western society, exhibit many of these symptoms: inflammation, fatigue, stress, burnout, insomnia, acid reflux, headaches, various pain, hypertension, blood sugar abnormalities, cholesterol problems, joint pain, asthma, allergies, abdominal pain, menstrual pain and irregularity, and the like. Though these conditions will respond well to acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, patients find it surprising that their progress can be hindered if they fail to adhere to some simple dietary suggestions.

For example, patients who are being treated for pain and also have a weight problem, are advised to avoid or drastically reduce certain foods that aggravate the weight problem, which exacerbates their pain: cold beverages, ice cream, caffeine, sugar, milk, and dairy products, rich or fried foods; as well as red meat and seafood - as they contain high levels of uric acid.

Adequate intake of minerals, such as calcium, magnesium and potassium, are essential for pain management. Deficiency of these minerals will lead to spasms, cramps, and tense muscles. In Chinese dietary therapy, these nutrients act as muscle relaxants and are best consumed in natural occurring foods: Green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, collards, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens, and bok choy or Chinese cabbage; salmon and sardines canned with their soft bones, shellfish, almonds, Brazil nuts, dried beans, bananas, dried apricots, and avocados, cashews, peas and beans (legumes), seeds, soy products (such as soy flour and tofu), whole grains (such as brown rice and millet), broccoli, lima beans, tomatoes, potatoes (especially their skins), sweet potatoes, and winter squashes, citrus fruits, cantaloupe, bananas, kiwi, and prunes.

The beneficial foods for pain management prevent the accumulation of dampness and phlegm in the body, which stagnates both the flow of energy (Qi) and blood, and increases pain and inflammation. The goal of Food Energetics is to match a patient’s constitution with foods that balance them, energetically.

Meridian Harmonics