Most people believe that their stress somehow plays a role in their health. Whether it is a digestive, reproductive, or skin related problem, most people will tell me that they think the cause of their illness is from stress. I would have to agree that most of the time peoples intuitions about themselves is right. Mental/ emotional and physical stresses create havoc on our bodies natural balance, thus leading to a large array of problems.

I remember my post graduate dermatology teacher, Mazin Al Khafaji [1], showing us picture after picture of various case studies from his own clinic. It wasn't unusual to see a picture of a male with severe seborrhoeic dermatitis who, according to Mazin, was stood up on his wedding day, soon developing the skin problem afterwards. Or to see a middle aged woman who developed widespread guttate psoriasis after going through a major relationship breakup. Or a to see a woman develop acne in her early twenties for the first time following much stress that was related to her work and school. In my own clinical practice, I also see directly that many people developed there skin problem after a period of heightened stress.

In the ancient system of Chinese medicine there are many pathogenic factors responsible for skin disease including; climatic factors, improper diet, over-fatigue, insects, toxic substances, and the seven emotional disturbances. The human body will only be sensitive to these factors if either the bodies resistance is weak, constitutionally (ie, their genes) or after suffering from a chronic disease, or because the pathogenic factor is too strong and anyone who comes into contact with it will develop that disease (ie. herpes simplex).

According to Chinese medicine the seven emotions of joy, anger, melancholy, anxiety, grief, fear, and terror represent normal mental and emotional activities of a human being. When they are excessive then they become pathogenic in nature, disrupting the normal flow of our bodies physiological processes. Disrupted flow means stagnation in Chinese medicine. Just feel the top of the shoulders of anyone who has been under stress, they will be tight and rigid, this is the stagnation. Heat and/ or fire (inflammation) will develop as a consequence, much the same as the friction of rubbing two sticks together can start a fire. Now imagine what the Doctor will prescribe for the sore shoulders, an anti-inflammatory for the heat and muscle relaxants for the stagnated flow! The inflammatory process created from excessive emotional stress will not only lead to sore muscles, but also to a vast array of other physical problems including skin disease.

Many western medical researchers have been trying to document actual clinical evidence that stress can truly lead to troubled skin. It seems that a new level of dermatolgoy has emerged using this idea of the brain- skin connection. How the skin is made up of a complex web of hormones and nerves that are very sensitive to the mental processes of the individual. In a past post I wrote about the research done around stress induced acne. In future posts I plan to write about many of the other skin diseases that have been proven to be induced by stress as well. I will also be posting much of the relevant research that has been published on the subject. As always, I am happy to find the links between eastern and western philosophies, showing that our ideas are not that far off from each other.

Trevor Erikson