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Depression falls within the TCM category of constraint pattern, presenting with depressed mood, low spirits, and diminished interest. Liver qi stagnation is the core pathomechanism, which over time may transform into fire, damage yin, or consume qi, affecting the Heart and Spleen.
Key differentiation: Liver qi stagnation shows depressed mood with chest and flank distension and sighing; qi transforming into fire shows irritability with headache; Heart-Spleen vacuity shows excessive worrying with insomnia and poor appetite; phlegm-qi constraint shows plum-pit qi sensation.
@misc{bencaodian-yi-yu,
author = {{Bencaodian Editorial}},
title = {Yi Yu 抑郁 (Depression)},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Bencao Dian: A Bilingual Knowledge Graph of Traditional Chinese Medicine},
url = {https://bencaodian.org/en/conditions/yi-yu},
urldate = {2026-04-17},
note = {CC BY-SA 4.0}
}© Bencaodian Editorial · Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0