On the morning of April 29, 2018, an inpatient from Anding Hospital came to my outpatient clinic first thing in the morning, referred by a friend. She was clearly in great distress. I took a detailed history, reassured her family, wrote out a prescription, and told her to take her medication diligently. Throughout the visit, her family kept asking: Can TCM really cure depression? My answer was simple: If you believe, it can.

I said that with conviction, because years ago I had treated a patient just like her — a young man who didn’t talk much. On the surface he seemed cheerful enough, but inwardly he was anything but. He had been diagnosed with depression for three years. It started with insomnia — whole nights without sleep — then gradually progressed into social anxiety. He stopped reaching out to friends, preferred staying home. At first he brushed it off, but as the sleep worsened and irritability set in, he finally went to see a doctor and was prescribed Deanxit and lorazepam. They helped, somewhat, for a while.

When he came to see me, he had two main complaints. The first was a generalized ache throughout his body — he couldn’t tell if it was muscle or bone, but it was miserable, especially at night, leaving him exhausted by day. The second was halitosis and poor appetite, with a bitter taste in his mouth every morning that caused him tremendous anxiety and made him afraid to speak to anyone.

I was younger then, not yet in Beijing, and my thinking was straightforward. I can’t recall the exact tongue and pulse findings now, but I remember pondering it for a good while and thinking: This is exactly the Lily Disease described by Zhang Zhongjing. I gave him the original formula in its original dosage — Baihe Dihuang Decoction:

Lily bulb (Baihe) 42 g, Raw Rehmannia root (Sheng Dihuang) 60 g

Just two simple herbs. I told him to use plenty of water, simmer for an hour, and drink it in two doses per day for five consecutive days.

To my surprise, after just two days he reported that the aching was gone. He felt remarkably light and free. The bitter taste in the morning had vanished, and his mood was bright. I told him to finish the course.

When I saw him after all five doses, he looked like a different person. His complexion had color, his speech was fluent and quick. He told me he hadn’t felt this well in years — it was as if a stone had been lifted from his chest. He asked what to do next. I said: just brew these two herbs as tea from time to time, and go out more with your friends.

I don’t know if that counts as a cure, but the problems that had plagued him for years were undeniably resolved. Today, the incidence of depression and anxiety in China is rising year by year. The suffering these conditions cause is hard for most people to fathom — the longer the course, the greater the agony, tormenting both mind and body. Many people say TCM cannot treat depression. I say: not necessarily. Depression is complex — you cannot call it purely a psychological illness, nor purely a physiological one. It is a condition in which mind and body are intertwined, each influencing the other.

For this latest patient, I prescribed Chaihu plus Dragon Bone and Oyster Shell Decoction (Chaihu Jia Longgu Muli Tang), hoping to help her recover as soon as possible.

2018年4月29日，安定医院的一名住院患者经人介绍一大早就来到门诊找我，可以看出她非常痛苦，我详细询问了病情，安抚了家属情绪，开好了药方，嘱咐好好吃药。这期间患者家属一直在询问，中医能不能把抑郁症治好，我的回答是，只要你相信，就能！

说这些话是有底气的，多年前我就见到过这样一位病人，一个小伙子，不怎么爱说话，看上去好像挺乐观，其实内心并不是这样。他已经确诊抑郁症3年了，最初的表现就是睡眠不好，整夜整夜睡不着觉，后来就有点社交恐惧，不爱主动约人出去玩，喜欢在家里呆着，开始没当回事，后来愈发睡不好，又有些烦躁，就去医院了，给开了黛力新和劳拉西泮，吃了一段时间，好像管点用。

他当时来找我主要有两个问题，一个是浑身难受，浑身疼，说不上来是肌肉疼还是骨头疼，反正就是难受，特别是夜里，非常难受，导致休息不好，白天犯困。第二就是有口臭，食欲也不佳，早上起来嘴里一股苦味，给他心里造成了很大的压力，不敢跟人说话。

那时候我还年轻，还没到北京来，思路也很简单，具体舌脉现在记不清了，但是当时确实琢磨了半天，心想这不就是仲景说的百合病么，给了原方原剂量的百合地黄汤：

百合42g，生地黄60g

就这简单的两味药，让他回去多放点水，煮上一个小时，然后一天分两次喝了，连喝五天。

没想到，他喝了两天之后就告诉我身上不疼了，感觉特别轻松，早上起来嘴里也不苦了，心情很愉快，我让他坚持喝完。

五付药之后我再见到他，那感觉就是两个人了，脸色特别好，说话都变得利索了，他告诉我这几年从来没有这么轻松过，感觉心里的石头一下子被拿走了一样，问我下一步怎么办，我就说这两位药没事就泡茶喝吧，多跟朋友出去玩玩就行了。

我不知道这样算不算治好了，但是至少困扰他多年的一些问题确实被解决了。现在国内的抑郁症焦虑症发病率逐年增高，这些疾病所带来的痛苦常人一般难以理解，尤其是病程越长，痛苦越多，不仅精神上痛苦，身体上也是备受折磨。很多人说中医治不了抑郁症，我说不一定，抑郁症很复杂，你不能说他是纯心理疾病，也不能说是纯生理疾病，这是一种跟心理和生理都有关系，并且相互影响的病。

这次这位患者我给用了柴胡加龙骨牡蛎汤，希望能帮助她尽早康复。