Study on Depressive Syndrome in Hyungsang Medicine

울증의 형상의학적 고찰

From a view point of Hyungsang medicine a study is made on depressive syndromes through 'Donguibogam(東醫寶鑑)' ,'Clinical lectures by Mr. Jeesan(芝山先生 臨床學特講)' and other literature. Depressed energy(?) originally meant the disorder of vital energy in the circulation of nature with the lapse of time. In later, it has been changed to mean the disease of man, especially related to the mind. Depressive syndromes come from the stagnation of the Ki or the abnormal circulation(rising, falling, coming and going), which happens when man cannot adjust oneself to the circumstances due to the disharmony between internal and external conditions. Depressive syndrome easily attacks the following types of persons; Dam type person with excessive Ki and deficient Hyung(形), manly woman, womanly man, Bird type person who shows a great variety of emotion, Turtle type person declined to melancholy, Ki type person apt to be depressive, and Shin type person with upward gush of the fire. It also attacks the persons who have smudgy face with the scar between eyebrows, those whose pulses are mixture of two different kinds and those whose pulses extend on two ranges in Jeesan's diagram. Depressive syndromes recorded in 'Donguibogam' are globus hystericus, chest congestion, gastric discomfort, cough and asthma caused by depressed Ki, abdominal mass, edema, and tympanites. The most effective prescriptions for depressive syndromes are Eajintang(二陳湯), Guibitang(歸脾湯), Hyangsosan(香蘇散), and Gamisachiltang(加味四七湯).