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- Title
Ego, Id, Defense Mechanisms and Chinese Medicine.
- Authors
Arroyo, Emmanuel
- Abstract
Chinese medicine can be seen as a dynamic philosophy in which each science field within it endeavors to convey a clear portrait of abstract concepts with its use of Chinese characters and the meridians' pathways. The field of psychology, when analyzed within the context of Chinese medicine, can offer a new vision on the established concepts of Ego, Id, defense mechanisms, and libido. This article discusses the Ego and defense mechanisms in terms of the Heart Protector, the Id in terms of the Chinese medicine Kidney, and the Chinese medical term, Liver, as the thoroughfare for the ming men-fire and jing-essence. Chinese characters for shen and their cognates, acting as a beacon, guide our perceptions by drawing frames of reference associating shen with the Ego and its defense mechanisms. The ming men-fire is the Chinese medicine equivalent for Id, with the vessel carrying internal instincts, libidinal drive, and sexuality as the Liver, and with the willl to survive as the Kidney. The Liver is seen as functioning between the conscious and unconscious and carries internal stimuli of an unconscious nature. In Chinese medicine terms, jue yin connects both leg shao yin with arm shao yin. Vacuity of Liver leads to wind, qi stagnation, yang rising and Heat, or fire, that harasses the mind. Another diagnosis would be Heart and Kidney not able to communicate, or phlegm misting the orifices. It is noted that all of them communicate the idea of the Id's inability to communicate with the Ego thanks to diverse defense mechanisms.
- Subjects
ACUPUNCTURE points; ATTITUDE (Psychology); DEFENSE mechanisms (Psychology); EGO (Psychology); GROUP identity; KIDNEYS; LIVER; CHINESE medicine; PSYCHOLOGY; SIGNS &; symbols; TERMS &; phrases; QI (Chinese philosophy); QI gong
- Publication
JASA: Journal of the American Society of Acupuncturists, 2019, Vol 6, Issue 4, p26
- ISSN
2377-3723
- Publication type
Article