Finally, anger, like all other emotions, also affects the Heart. This is particularly prone to be
affected by anger also because, from a 5-Element perspective, the Liver is the mother of the
Heart and often Liver-Fire is transmitted to the Heart giving rise to Heart-Fire. Anger makes the
Heart full with blood rushing to it. With time, this leads to Blood-Heat affecting the Heart and
therefore the Mind. Anger tends to affect the Heart particularly when the person does a lot of
jogging, hurrying or exercising.
Thus, anger may cause either stagnation of Liver-Qi or Liver-Yang rising. When advising
patients on how to deal with their anger, we should note that if anger has caused stagnation of
Liver-Qi, expressing the anger may be helpful. However, if anger has given rise to Liver-Yang
rising, expressing it will not usually help: it is too late and expressing the anger forcefully may
only make Liver-Yang rise even more.
In some cases, anger disguises other emotions such as guilt. Some people may harbour guilt
inside for many years and may be unable or unwilling to recognize it: they may then use anger as
a mask for their guilt. Moreover, there are some families in which every member is perpetually
angry: this happens more in Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Spain or Greece. In these
families, anger is used as a mask to hide other emotions such as guilt, fear, dislike of being
controlled, weakness, or inferiority complex. When this is the case, it is important to be aware
of this situation as one needs to treat not the anger, but the underlying psychological and
emotional condition.
The counterpart of anger in terms of mental energies is power, dynamism, creativity and
generosity. The same energy which is dissipated in outbursts of anger can be harnessed to
achieve one's goals in life. It is probably for this reason that the Gall-Bladder (closely related to
the Liver) is said to be the source of courage. A strong Gall-Bladder gives one the courage to
make decisions and changes in one's life. This aspect of the Gall-Bladder's functions is obviously
closely linked to the Liver and the Ethereal Soul. If Liver-Blood is deficient there is fear:
therefore if Liver-Blood is abundant the person will be fearless and decisive.
Joy
A normal state of joy is not in itself a cause of disease; on the contrary, it is a beneficial mental
state which favours a smooth functioning of the internal organs and their mental faculties. The
"Simple Questions" in chapter 39 says: "Joy makes the Mind peaceful and relaxed, it benefits the
Nutritive and Defensive Qi and it makes Qi relax and slow down".55(221) On the other hand, in
chapter 2 the "Simple Questions" says: "The Heart ... controls joy, joy injures the Heart, fear
counteracts joy".56(222)
What is meant by "joy" as a cause of disease is obviously not a state of healthy contentment but
one of excessive excitement and craving which can injure the Heart. This happens to people who
live in a state of continuous mental stimulation (however pleasurable) or excessive excitement: