This translation of a Chinese text published in 1987 provides a window on the practical philosophy of modern Chinese medical scholars and clinicians, as well as insight into the historical development of psychology in China. Although schizophrenia is more common than many widely-discussed illneses, most people know far less about it. This fascinating book about how schizophrenia is perceived, experienced, and treated in another culture advances our understanding of one of humankind's great afflictions.

The text introduces the varieties of schizophrenia according to the parameters of Western biomedical understanding.  Since in Chinese traditional medicine disorders of this type are considered to be the result of invasion by one or more of the six environmental evils, attention is given to an exposition of these factors, as well as to two additional categories of cause, damage from intemperance of the seven affects (joy, anger, anxiety, thought, sorrow, fear, and fright), and miscellaneous factors including inherited and fetal pathoconditions.

The authors detail Western biomedical diagnosis and the essentials of Chinese differential diagnosis.  Treatment protocols for each condition are provided, including techniques such as electro-stimulation, large needle and deep puncture techniques, as well as facial, ear and scalp acupuncture. Fluid injection therapy, point suture embedding therapy, point grasping and cupping therapy, vessel pricking and laser therapy, and co-therapy with Chinese and/or Western drugs are also discussed.

Soothing the Troubled Mind: Treatment and Prevention of Schizophrenia with Acupuncture was originally intended for practitioners of T.C.M. in mainland China as an introduction to schizophrenia from the Western perspective as well as a review of the T.C.M. treatments used in treating not just schizophrenia, but all mental diseases. The central focus of this book is just the utility of acupuncture and T.C.M. in treating mental diseases, but also an examination of the best way to apply the treatments.  Besides providing a thorough review of historical treatments, it has a fascinating section on combining treatments.  For example, the book discusses how an expensive drug or a treatment with severe side effects can be used at much lower doses when supplemented by acupuncture or other traditional Chinese treatments.  The results claims are truly worthy of exploration.  Though there will arguably be controversies stirred by a close reading of this book, its basic message is that Chinese medicine has much to offer the future of psychiatric medicine. It is a message the authors deliver with convincing clarity.

Publication Date: 1999
Paperback; 164 pages; 6 x 9; $14.95
ISBN: 0-912111-60-7

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