This semester in school I am taking a class called Chinese Medicine Psychology, investigating how different Chinese Medical diagnoses manifest as different constitutions, behaviors, and psychoses. For the class we are reading the incredible book Dragon Rises, Red Bird Flies: Psychology & Chinese Medicine by Leon Hammer, M.D.
Leon Hammer was a doctor of psychiatry who discovered Chinese Medicine in the 1970s and began studying it. He moved to China in 1981 and studied under the internationally acknowledged Chinese master Dr. J.F. Shen for 27 years, diving deep into Dr. Shen’s pulse reading methods. As he studied, he kept seeing more and more connections between what happens physically in the body according to Qi and the Five Elements and how they connect to different psychoses and mental health conditions. He recorded his insights in his incredible book. After writing several books and teaching all over the world, he started the Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine in 2001 (1). One of his devoted students is one of my favorite teachers, Brandt Stickley. Dr. Hammer passed away this summer at age 98. I am grateful to be learning from his insight and wisdom.
While there is so much I will unpack from this book and share in future posts, I wish to share a story one of Dr. Hammer’s patients shared in the book. It is a perfect continuation of the principles and conclusions in my previous article Does Chinese Medicine Help with Mental Health? I hope you find this case as insightful and miraculous as I do!
I first came to see Dr. Leon Hammer when I was 29. My wife of nine years had just delivered our first child. I had graduated college three years previous to this and was employed as —. Because of deep set feelings of inadequacy and an accompanying high anxiety level, I felt a need to drink heavily and take large amounts of Valium to keep functioning in my job, my social life, and my marriage. I also abused certain other drugs, especially marijuana.
I lost time from my job because of hangovers. I performed my job in a uniformly mediocre fashion, often avoiding the more difficult tasks because I couldn’t cope with the anxiety those situations would produce.
I found friendships hard to handle and often insulted others and carried on in such a way that they would not come back for more. This destructive behavior carried over into my marriage.
After my daughter was born, certain feelings developed in me that I could neither identify nor handle. I felt dizzy and horribly insecure, often experiencing a slipping sensation, as if I were going to fall down. I could not sleep at night and frequently awoke sweating and choking on something that was caught in my throat. I never knew when I would have an anxiety attack. I thought I was going insane.
I saw Dr. Hammer in therapy about seven months initially. We worked with Bioenergetics. After I was grounded, we worked to unravel some of my feelings. It took a long time before I would trust him. He helped me to work through and resolve many feelings. I stopped taking Valium after three months of therapy and never took it again. The same with other drugs. However, I continued to drink, but not as heavily. Feeling much better, we terminated therapy after seven months by mutual agreement. I continued to go to group therapy (which I started some four months after beginning individual therapy). I finally dropped group because it did not work for me. I started another group nine months later which I still attend.
After Christmas of 1973 I became profoundly depressed. Some of the old symptoms began to return. I began to drink heavily again. I felt like I was coming apart again after almost a year. During that year I had struggled to maintain myself and put to use what I had learned in therapy, and now it seemed as if I was going crazy again.
I went back to Dr. Hammer. After about ten sessions of psychotherapy he began to use acupuncture. Almost immediately I felt changes happening. After about seven treatments I felt like a whole person. I no longer drink. (I tried to get drunk a couple of times, but didn’t like it anymore). The craving for alcohol has disappeared. I no longer get depressed. I seem able to deal with difficult situations without wanting to withdraw or become defensive or aggressive. I can get appropriately angry, deal with it, and get it out of my system. Anger is directed now, not dispersed. I seem able to feel a whole lot more and act on that feeling. I have about twice as much energy as before. I feel good about myself. I exercise regularly now and work out every morning at seven with weights. My job has become routine and easily handled. The group tells me I am closer to them than ever before.
Acupuncture has worked, and I feel the change will be lasting because of inner knowledge gained through some 35 psychotherapy sessions. Acupuncture seems to be the vehicle by which this inner knowledge is integrated within me. I don’t know if the acupuncture results would be as dramatic without psychotherapy. I fee that without certain tools and insights given me in therapy, the acupuncture treatments would probably provide only temporary relief. I am getting stronger with each treatment (2).
Sources:
- Dr. Leon Hammer. Dragon Rises. Updated 2023. Accessed September 2023.
- Hammer L. Dragon Rises, Red Bird Flies: Psychology & Chiense Medicine. Eastland Press: 2010. Pg 17-18.
