The Seven emotions:

TCM considers that the emotions, when they are excessive, play a significant role in disturbing our health.   We all know that when we are upset, it can be hard to want to eat or if we do eat we may get diarreah or indigestion.  Or if we are worried about something, we may have trouble sleeping.  TCM takes these observations very seriously because if they occur over a long period of time, they can create chronic problems that really disturb quality of life. 

The Chinese consider the seven emotions to be:  anger, joy, worry, overthinking, grief, fear, and fright.  Anger affects Liver function; joy affects the Heart; worry and overthinking affect the Spleen;  grief affects the Lung; and fear and fright affect the Kidneys.  

So when these emotions are excessive, they can adversely affect their corresponding organs.   For example, many people suffer from anxiety and take western medication.  They may have digestive problems that create the anxiety or their overthinking may be creating the anxiety.  The goal in TCM is to treat the root of the symptoms, not only to mask them as Western medication commonly does.  And so, a TCM practitioner might treat the Spleen in order to treat the anxiety and also teach the patient new ways of thinking.