Logout 📊 Admin
🏠 Home

← All Conditions

Fear

How Chinese medicine differentiates fear — a signal from the organ systems, not a single emotion — into the five patterns you'll actually meet in practice, and the points for each. Distinct from this site's own Easily Startled page. Acupuncture only — no herbs.

This page is educational, for practitioners and students — it is not a diagnostic tool and does not replace a proper in-person assessment. Fear that is overwhelming, constant, or linked to panic attacks or trauma benefits from professional mental health support alongside anything offered here.
General Acupuncture Points

Acupuncture points traditionally used for fear — 9 key points, used across the patterns below rather than tied to just one.

PointKey action
HE-7Calms the Mind and opens the Mind's orifices. Nourishes Heart-Blood.
BL-15Calms the Mind. Nourishes the Heart. Clears Heat. Regulates Heart-Qi and invigorates Blood.
ST-36Tonifies Qi and Blood. Tonifies the Stomach and Spleen.
P-6Opens the chest and moves Qi and Blood. Calms the Mind.
BL-19Resolves Damp-Heat in Liver and Gall Bladder. Subdues rebellious Qi. Tonifies Gall Bladder Qi.
ST-40Resolves Phlegm and Dampness. Calms the Mind and opens the Mind's orifices.
LR-2Drains Liver-Fire and subdues Liver-Yang. Cools Blood and stops bleeding.
P-7Calms the Mind and opens the Mind's orifices. Clears Heat and Toxic Heat.
SP-6Strengthens the Spleen. Nourishes Blood and Yin.
DU-20Extinguishes interior Wind. Subdues Liver-Yang. Raises Yang.
BL-18Resolves Damp-Heat. Moves Liver-Qi and eliminates stagnation. Nourishes Liver-Blood.
LR-3Subdues Liver-Yang. Invigorates Blood and regulates menstruation.
The Five Patterns

↑ reinforcing   ↓ reducing   ⊥ even method.

1. Heart Qi Deficiency View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Palpitations, shortness of breath worsened by exertion, fatigue, easily startled and nervous, pale complexion, dread with minor surprises.
Tongue: Pale, puffy tongue with thin white coat, midline crack may appear. Pulse: Empty, soft, yielding completely under pressure, weak at the left Cun position.
Treatment principle: Tonify Heart Qi to anchor the spirit and reduce fear.
HE-7 ↑ BL-15 ↑ ST-36 ↑
Note: moxa applicable throughout. Direct exact-name match with this site's own Heart-Qi-deficiency slide.

2. Gallbladder Deficiency View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Timidity, indecisiveness, easily startled by small noises, disturbed sleep with frightening dreams, heart palpitations when nervous, chronic background unease, lacks courage.
Tongue: Pale, thin body with thin white coating. Pulse: Fine, weak, wiry, especially weak at the left Guan position.
Treatment principle: Strengthen Gallbladder Qi to restore courage.
HE-7 ↑ P-6 ⊥ BL-15 ↑ BL-19 ↑ ST-36 ↑
Note: moxa applicable on GB-19/ST-36. Direct exact-name match with this site's own Gall-Bladder-deficient slide.

3. Phlegm-Fire Harassing the Heart View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Intense fear/panic with a sense of impending doom, chest oppression with a gurgling sensation and sticky yellow phlegm, severely disturbed sleep with frightening nightmares, flushed red face, red eyes, bitter taste, mental restlessness and agitation.
Tongue: Red body, swollen with a red prickly tip, thick yellow greasy coating. Pulse: Slippery and rapid, full and overflowing at the left Cun position.
Treatment principle: Clear Heat and transform Phlegm to open the Heart orifice.
HE-7 ↓ ST-40 ↓ LR-2 ↓ P-7 ↓
Note: no moxa. Direct exact-name match with this site's own Phlegm-Fire-harassing-the-Heart slide.

4. Qi and Blood Deficiency

Clinical manifestations: Easily startled and fearful without a clear trigger, constant fatigue and weakness, pale or sallow complexion, dizziness and lightheadedness, heart palpitations with fright, poor appetite, insomnia with frequent frightened waking.
Tongue: Pale body, may be thin with teeth marks, thin white coating. Pulse: Fine and weak, especially at the right Guan position.
Treatment principle: Tonify both Qi and Blood to nourish the Heart and anchor the spirit.
ST-36 ↑ SP-6 ↑ HE-7 ↑ P-6 ⊥ DU-20 ↑
Note: moxa applicable throughout. This site has no combined Qi-and-Blood-deficiency slide, a gap confirmed absent many times over — no pattern link is given here; points still link fine individually.

5. Liver Blood Deficiency View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Dizziness or lightheadedness, blurred vision or dry eyes, pale face with brittle ridged nails, vivid dreaming or restless sleep, scanty menstruation with pale blood (women), fearfulness and timidity.
Tongue: Pale body (especially sides), thin and slightly dry with thin white coating. Pulse: Fine and choppy, often wiry at the left middle position.
Treatment principle: Nourish Liver Blood to anchor the Hun and ground the spirit.
BL-18 ↑ SP-6 ↑ HE-7 ↑ LR-3 ↓
Note: moxa applicable on BL-18/SP-6. Direct exact-name match with this site's own Liver-Blood-deficiency slide.
Related conditions
Easily Startled Anxiety Panic Disorder

Spot an error, or have more to add? Send it to admin on WhatsApp and it'll be corrected/added here.

Acupuncture-only reference — structure adapted (not text) from how other condition-lookup sites organize this kind of content. Let us know what to add or change.