Qigong and the Human Psychological Condition

by Theodore Lemann

Qi Gong is a thousands-year old practice originating in China whose physical movements as well as spiritual mystery live on to this day.  The practice, which translates more or less to Qi ‘work’ is designed and performed in order to help a person recognize, cultivate, and especially appreciate the life force that is present in them and in all things.  A translation of Qi alone is a more difficult task to tackle in the Western world than one of ‘gong,’ as it’s referent is not something that is wholly understood or accepted by Americans.  Regardless, as communications have increased between East and West, their cultures and customs have spread, Qi Gong being no exception.  Though Qi Gong is not fully understood even by those practicing it in the West, it is more often misunderstood and believed to be no more than hollow movements whose salubrious effects can be chalked up to mere placebo.  Whether or not this is the case, Qi Gong has survived for so long because of the positive effects that many believe it to engender.
 Today, it is generally an accepted theory that the mind and body are connected in the various processes of upholding a human’s wellbeing.  Without the biological functions of the body running smoothly, that person’s mind may not be able to operate in the significant ways that define who they are as distinct from the animal kingdom.  Likewise, without the mind working in an organized and ‘sane’ manner, the massive tool that is the human body cannot be used to it’s full potential.  This paper will focus more on the thought-based element of human life, examining the importance of mental health and the extent to which Qi Gong can help maintain that important sanity.
 
 In 1993, Bill Moyers, a journalist known often for his work with PBS, completed and presented a documentary to the public entitled Healing and the Mind.  This documentary was an in-depth exploration of many possible connections between mind and body, as well as the extent to which they can both be approached from a medicinal standpoint in order to maintain good health.  During the film, Moyer travels throughout China gathering explanation and exposition, translating into terms that could more easily be understood by American TV watchers.  This groundbreaking documentary is considered to be one of the first major steps in popularizing Qi Gong in America.
 Much of this video focuses on the physical benefits of Qi Gong practice, as well as many traditional Chinese medicinal practices that will promote better Qi flow, thus better health.  This physical health is the first point to be approached:  The extent to which Qi Gong can actually stimulate biological functioning in a person’s body in a measurable, albeit Western way.
 On one level, there is no doubt that Qi Gong is useful in preventing muscular atrophy caused by underuse and inactivity.  Qi Gong, though not overwhelmingly so, is a physically demanding activity that will require a healthy amount of exercise from a practitioner.  Internally, also, there are chemical, physical changes in a person’s brain functions that can be measured using MRI or CAT scan equipment.  These types of findings indicate that there is definitely a physical effect of performing Qi Gong.
 
This leads to the next important aspect of a person’s overall health:  Mental health.  First, let us examine what the concept of positive mental health actually means, as it can be described more professionally that simply ‘to be happy’.  In order to get a better idea of this, it might be best to approach the mental state from a damaged perspective.  Considering what can be wrong with a person’s mental state will help carve out a concept of an ideal.  Some people hold the belief that insanity or mental illness is a culturally constructed system designed to pressure people into conformity.  This may be the case, but there is no doubt that there are people who exhibit abnormal behaviors that do not prove beneficial to themselves objectively. 
Robin Kowalski and Drew Westen’s textbook on basic psychology defines personality disorders as being “characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior that lead to chronic disturbances in interpersonal and occupational functioning.” (515)  In this sense, mental health can be understood as the opposite; as a person’s ability to be a productive part of their environment by being permeated with logical thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.  For example, there is a difference between sadness and depression where depression can create a pattern of negative emotions and the thoughts that they will be permanently so.
First, the exercise element of Qi Gong can be immensely helpful in fighting depressive tendencies.  According to Daniel M. Landers’ paper “The Influence of Exercise on Mental Health,” physical activity can help alleviate and even prevent many negative emotional patterns such as anxiety and depression.  Landers references the sensible hesitation to agree to define a concrete link between exercise and mental health in the Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health.  However, this report does appreciate some correlation and it may only be a formality that they avoid any premature conclusions.  So, appreciating that Qi Gong is a form of exercise, it can be extrapolated that it will have emotional benefits and may be useful in ameliorating the affect associated with depression and anxiety.  This, in conjunction with the measurable changes in brain function during and after meditation practices that have been recorded, is clear evidence that there are emotional, as well as physical benefits that may be achieved by practicing Qi Gong.

In circles where Qi Gong is practiced, much of this information may seem intuitive and redundant.  It is fairly easy to accept that there is some benefit to such a form that has been in practice for thousands of years, though the magnitude of these effects is not always agreed upon.  The placebo aspect of it could account for the small benefits that some reap, but that may seem like a ridiculous explanation for those who feel more intense effects.  What are often overlooked are the potential hazards of Qi Gong practice.  This is not an indication of the obvious dangers of pulling muscles or falling over while balancing up on just the balls of the feet.  Every aspect of life can leave a person in pain.  There are more intense emotional dangers that have been described as associated with the Qi Gong practice.  The most intriguing of these is called Zouhuo rumo, ‘qi gong deviation’ or more commonly referred to in Western science as ‘Qi Gong Psychotic Reaciton’.
There are numerous case studies floating about on the Internet regarding this phenomenon, where practitioners may experience dangerous breaks from reality that are attributed to their Qi Gong practice.  In one clinical case study, a 48 year-old Chinese woman was hospitalized after driving her car into a brick wall to test her belief that she was immortal.  According to the psychologists examining her during this period of hospitalization, Mrs. H (as she is referred to in the public study) claims to have had visions of various distorted degrees during her Qi Gong practice over the course of two years that were similar in taste to those typically experienced by people suffering from schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.  Mrs. H had suffered some depression previously in her life, but had no family history of psychotic disorders and was well beyond the standard mid-twenties stage of life where these problems develop more naturally.  After her hospitalization and after discontinuing her Qi Gong practice, Mrs. H’s symptoms subsided, though it should be clarified that most psychotic ‘episodes’ such as this do not typically last more than a few weeks.
Another case is described as such:
A 57-year-old Chinese-American man was presented with a three-week history of auditory and visual hallucinations. The patient had begun qi-gong practices as therapy for chronic problems with kidney stones. After several days of intensive qi-gong, he began hearing voices telling him how to practice qi-gong, and to believe that he had contacted beings from another dimension. He sought help from the qi-gong masters, but to no avail. His wife brought him to see a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with schizophreniform disorder and treated him with anti-psychotic medications.
Qi Gong psychotic reaction is an accepted diagnosis in the DSM-IV, which is the official diagnostic reference standard of all Western psychological practices, and in both of these cases, the patients were found to have exactly this disorder, though the DSM-IV only recognizes Qi Gong as a precipitating factor in the presence of underlying personality disorders.  There are, however, some important faults to be considered with these.  First, this raises the important concept of a culture-bound syndrome, which is one in which the symptoms would only be recognized as irregular or undesirable within certain cultures.  Highly respected Shamans of some cultures, for example, might be considered psychotic in the streets of Los Angeles.  Though driving into a brick wall is obviously a bad idea, the latter example of a man hallucinating instruction could actually be a case of someone profoundly confused and incapable of coming to terms with experiencing some intense effects of over-intensive Qi-Gong.
Another interesting thing to consider is the primary source of Qi Gong Deviation diagnoses.  This is something that is distinguished from pre-existing personality disorders based on criteria set by the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders, a manual that is produced by the Chinese Society of Psychiatry.  The Chinese Society of Psychiatry has been under scrutiny for some time now due to it’s questionable diagnosis of many Falun Gong practitioners – a move that some believe to be a part of the Chinese government’s oppression of the practice itself.  Though this does not in any way completely discredit the truths asserted by the CCMD, it is an important thing to consider while examining the validity of the disorder.
Whether Qi Gong psychotic reaction exists or not as a legitimate or accurate effect of Qi Gong, it is definitely true that Qi Gong can be practiced incorrectly and irresponsibly.  According to the Wikipedia entry on Qi-Gong psychotic reaction, which cites the 2000 paper Qigong for Treating Common Ailments, the problem can be cause by any number of mistakes ranging from improper instruction and untrained instructor, to general impatience with one’s practice.  These are immensely important aspects of the practice of Qi Gong and should never be overlooked.  Just as it would be harmful to ‘read’ books without knowing the language but simply ascribing an arbitrary meaning to the foreign words, one cannot correctly practice Qi Gong without a holistic understanding of the philosophies involved or the movements to be performed.  Without that, it simply is not Qi Gong.
In conclusion, Qi Gong is a practice that is easily accepted in most of the old-world Eastern world as highly beneficial to both body and mind maintenance.  In the West, however, this is something that is slowly being accepted as more evidence is being found regarding the psychological effects of physical wellness and the physical effects of certain types of meditation or Qi Gong.  Though there are some potential risks of Qi Gong (which may only be risks of improper practice of Qi Gong) it is something that, if taken seriously and practiced skillfully, is relatively safe.  Now, Qi Gong is a fairly young practice under the microscope of Western medicine, but hopefully as it’s popularity in the West grows, more studies will develop exploring the long-term effects that Qi Gong can yield on a person’s psychology.

 

Works Cited
http://www.fitness.gov/mentalhealth.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi-gong_psychotic_reaction#Mental_disorders
http://homepage.mac.com/mccajor/cbs_qigong.html#top
Hwang, Wei-Chin.  Qi-gong Psychotic Reaction in a Chinese American Woman. 
Springer Science + Business Media, LLC: 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c8en13CD3w
Kowalski, Robin.  Psychology: Fifth Edition.  John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: 2009