Pathogenic emotions are among the internal causes of disease in TCM.1 There is room to explore the potential pathogenicity of emotional speech expressed and “caught” via the exterior pathogenic factor (EPF) of wind, resulting in interior-exterior psychobiological complexes. This article is the first in a series that aims to explore the philosophical and clinical TCM concept of pathogenic speech as wind and the transmission of pathogenic emotion as causative factors of disease complexes (xie qi).
Wind in TCM
Wind is yang-type pathogen, characterized by rapid onset, propensity for upward and outward dispersion, and frequent variations of intensity and direction.2 Wind is the primary causative factor in exogenous disease and the first of the six that invade the exterior. Any remaining five factors may use wind to penetrate the interior via the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and skin to form disease complexes such as wind-cold or wind-phlegm.1
Pathogenic Speech as Exteriorized Internal Wind
Breath is wind. From a physiological perspective, respiration is both the vehicle of human speech and the source of oxygen that fuels aerobic cellular metabolism. Physiological respiration actualizes the traditional Chinese medical concept of interdependence and the transformational dynamics of interior/ exterior, yin and yang.1
Just as EPFs combine with wind to invade the exterior, interior pathogenic emotion can combine with wind (breath) and exteriorize through speech, thus becoming an airborne pathogen. The pathogenicity (xie qi) of human emotions, when spoken, can be represented as exteriorized interior wind. This wind then confronts the relative integrity of the anti-pathogenic qi (wei qi / zheng qi) of a recipient.3
Colloquially, individuals least affected by pathogenic speech are often described as being “thick skinned” or “callous.” Through the lens of TCM diagnostics, this idiom can be interpreted as a reflection of optimal wei qi or a well-consolidated exterior.
Conversely, when the exterior is excessively consolidated, emotional receptivity may be diminished, resulting in an imbalance possibly manifesting as psychopathy or sociopathy. The dermatological metaphor of callousness squares with Zang Fu theory; wei qi, governed by the lungs, operates on, or just beneath, the skin’s surface as the immunological boundary between self and non-self.
When someone “gets under your skin,” this can be understood in TCM terms as a breach of the exterior, allowing pathogenic wind – whether verbal or microbial – to penetrate the interior and alter psychological or physiological equilibrium. Viewed from this perspective, both emotionally charged speech,and microbes share analogous degrees of virulence and potential pathogenicity.
Media as Vectors of Pathogenic Wind
The impact of wind pathologies transmitted through modern media extends far beyond interpersonal contact. Despite physical distance, the wind of speech penetrates the exterior through the eyes and ears. The term viral, once firmly rooted in microbial pathology, has undergone semantic mutation in digital culture; transformed from a symbol of feared contagion to one of aspirational influence and visibility. “Viral” now describes both a pathogenic and positive state, just as wind may transmit pathogenic or positive speech.
An emotionally or psychologically pathogenic wind complex may not be clinically apparent due to variations in proportion and presentation. A wind-cold complex resulting from early childhood trauma may present as refractory sinusitis that persists into chronicity. Years later, unresolved patterns may reemerge that present as distinct from the root cause, such as anxiety or depression.
The blocking of olfaction is achieved through inflammation and obstruction of the nasal passages, thereby preventing wind from gaining access to the Interior. Olfaction is documented as the most immediate and evocative sensory trigger for memory and recall.4 The olfactory bulb maintains direct neural connections with the amygdala and communication with the hippocampus. Input is transmitted through the olfactory tract, and lateral olfactory stria, areas of the limbic system charged with emotional processing, emotional reactivity, social interactions, memory consolidation, and behavior.5
Clinical Manifestations: Causative or Compensatory?
When the wind of pathogenic speech is internalized, it carries the emotional intent of the speaker and the sensory imprint of one’s surrounding atmosphere. In the context of early or late-life exposure, children or elderly people subjected to persistent pathogenic emotional wind may have little to no ability to escape the speaker or change location.
In such cases, chronic inflammation and excess mucosal production might serve as both physiological and psychogenic defense; obstruction of functional olfaction prevents pathogenic wind (speech) from gaining access to emotional processing centers in the interior.
Research has begun to investigate predictive correlations between chronic sinusitis, anxiety and depression.6 This raises questions as to whether the inflammatory response precedes emotional distress or develops as a somatic compensation to it.
Emotional Contagion and Individual Susceptibility
Recent research by Marie Josee Richer, PhD, at the University of Montreal Department of Psychoeducation examines variability in older individuals prone to “catching” emotions.7 “Just as some people are more likely to catch a respiratory virus through close contact, others are more susceptible to ‘catching’ the emotions of the people around them.”8 This emerging evidence provides psychobiological parallels to classical TCM theory through which clinicians may assess implications of pathogenic wind.
Take-Home Points
Pathogenic emotional expression can be the result of exteriorized internal wind that penetrates the interior and contributes to somatic and psychoemotional complexes. As TCM evolves with integrative neuroscience, assessing the dynamic role of wind in emotional communication may deepen clinical insights into conditions influenced by psychosocial stress and trauma.
Author’s Note: Future articles in this series will expand upon differential diagnostics and review perspectives on the treatment of wind complexes with acupuncture and botanical medicine.
References
- Maciocia G. The Foundations of Chinese Medicine. Elsevier, 2005.
- Xinnong C. Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Foreign Language Press, 2009: pp. 265-266.
- Maciocia G. The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 2nd Edition. Elsevier, 2009: pp. 48-55.
- Mouly A, Sullivan R. Memory and Plasticity in the Olfactory System: From Infancy to Adulthood. In: The Neurobiology of Olfaction (chapter 15). CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, 2010.
- Song J, Choi SY. Arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus: anatomy, physiology, and diseases. Exper Neurobiol, 2023;32(6):371-386.
- Fan H, Han Z, Gong X, et al. Prevalence and predictors of depression and anxiety in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open, 2024;14(3):e079273.
- Richer M, Grenier S, Plusquellec P. The contribution of vulnerability to emotional contagion to the expression of psychological distress in older adults. PLoS Mental Health, 2024;1(5):e0000098.
- Larkin M. “Vulnerability to Emotional Contagion May Stress older Adults.” Medscape Medical News, Dec. 2, 2024.
Resources
- Hatfield E, Bensman L, Thornton PD, Rapson RL. New perspectives on emotional contagion: a review of classic and recent research on facial mimicry and contagion. Interpersona, 2014;8(2):159-179.
- Hatfield E, Cacioppo JT, Rapson RL. The Ability to Infect Others With Emotion. In: Emotional Contagion (chapter 4). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993: pp. 128-146.
- Herrando C, Constantinides E. Emotional contagion: a brief overview and future directions. Front Psychol, 2021;12.
- Lim A, Hoek HW, Deen, ML, et al. Prevalence and classification of hallucinations in multiple sensory modalities in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Schizophrenia Res, 2016;176(2-3):493-499.
- Visible Body Suite: central nervous system.
