Hello, this is Baekrokdam Korean Medicine Clinic.

“I'm not under stress, but my body feels strange”

There are people who say this as soon as they enter the consultation room. “I don't have anything particularly stressful going on, but my heart keeps racing and I feel a tightening sensation in my throat. I also get dizzy suddenly. I went to the hospital thinking my heart might be in bad shape, but the tests showed nothing was wrong.”

Patients who speak like this generally feel they have no distinct mental anxiety, but in reality, they are in a state where an imbalance has occurred in the autonomic nervous system. This means that while the individual may not recognize their emotions well, the body is reacting first.

Emotions are suppressed, but the body reacts

This state is often related to emotional suppression. Those who grew up in environments where expressing emotions was considered dangerous or unnecessary from a young age, or those who have performed roles where they always had to be strong, are trained to 'not feel' their emotions. Even when angry, they do not say they are angry, and even when anxious, they do not feel anxious.

However, emotions do not disappear; they remain in the body without being expressed. Once these suppressed emotions exceed a certain level, they begin to manifest through physical pathways. Symptoms such as heart palpitations, throat tightening, cold sweats, dizziness, and sleep disorders are exactly that.

In Korean medicine, this is called 'Ul (鬱)'.

Ul means to be unfair or to be condensed. It is a state where emotions cannot flow and are blocked, and consequently, the energy (Qi) also cannot flow.

Korean Medicine Interpretation: Gi-che, Sang-yeok, Ul-gyeol

Gi-che (氣滯): Stagnation of the flow of Qi, causing symptoms such as chest tightness, belching, and sighing.
Gi-sang-yeok (氣上逆): Qi cannot flow downward and surges upward, causing heart palpitations and a feeling of blockage in the throat.
Gan-ul (肝鬱): Stress and feelings of unfairness block the function of the liver, creating a state that easily transforms into fire (火).

As these mechanisms act in combination, an imbalance of the autonomic nerves occurs, and a state appears where emotions and the body seem separated. In particular, symptoms concentrated in the chest and throat can be seen as a type of Sang-yeok-jeung (上逆證), where energy surges upward relative to the diaphragm.

Treatment Strategy: Body First, Before Emotions

In such a state, simple psychological counseling or drug treatment alone is not sufficient. This is because psychiatric intervention is also limited when the person is unable to recognize their emotions. First, the work of stabilizing the state of the body and creating room for emotions to surface must precede other steps.

In Korean medicine, this state is approached in the following ways:

Opening the diaphragm and relieving thoraco-abdominal tension: Through acupuncture or pharmacopuncture, the stagnation of energy around the diaphragm is released, creating room to breathe deeply.
Stabilizing Gi-sang-yeok: Prescriptions that calm the energy surging upward—for example, Ondam-tang, Gami-ondam-tang, and Siho-based prescriptions are utilized.
Activating Qi circulation: Acupuncture or Chuna therapy is combined to secure a circulation path between the abdomen and the chest to circulate suppressed energy.

Along with this, the patient is guided through 'training to express symptoms in words.' For example, they are asked to observe "what thoughts flash through when the heart races" or "what scene occurred just before this symptom appeared." This is not about forcing emotions out, but training to observe and connect the body's signals.

It is not that there are no emotions, but that they have been suppressed for too long.

If you say you are not anxious, but your body continues to send abnormal signals—it does not mean there is no anxiety. Rather, emotions that have been suppressed for too long and trained not to be recognized are being expressed through the body. In such cases, simply soothing the mind is not enough. The body must be released first so that emotions can

When it can rise up. When there is no language for emotions, starting treatment with the language of the body—this is the first consultation we can provide to such patients.