Anxiety, depression, and panic do not look the same in every person, and in Traditional Eastern Medicine they are not treated the same way either. The same diagnosis can appear as a short fuse in one person, silent patience in another, endless worry in a third, startle and fear in a fourth, and flattened, empty feeling in a fifth. The quiz below sorts your own emotional temperament into one of five patterns, in about two minutes. Your pattern is what a custom herbal formula is built around.
In my Beaverton clinic, two patients can arrive in the same week with the same diagnosis from the same doctor, and need almost opposite treatment. One is wound tight, talks fast, snaps at her family, and cannot sit still. The other has not raised his voice in twenty years, keeps everything inside, and describes himself as fine while his body says otherwise.
Both are anxious. Giving them the same calming herbs would help one and do very little for the other.
This is why the intake I use asks about your temperament before it asks about your symptoms. It is a version of a questionnaire used in Korean medicine called 성정문진 — literally, a questioning of nature and feeling. It asks how you are built, not just how you feel this month. I have translated it into English below so you can take it yourself.
Why does emotional care start with temperament instead of the diagnosis?
A diagnosis of generalized anxiety describes what you experience. It does not describe how your system produces it. In Traditional Eastern Medicine, the second question is the useful one, because the treatment follows from it.
Emotion in this framework is not separate from the body. Anger pressurizes upward and heats. Prolonged worry knots and slows digestion. Fear drops downward and depletes. Grief and sustained low mood dry and empty. Each of those movements leaves physical evidence — in sleep, appetite, bowel habits, pulse quality, and the tongue — and each calls for a different direction of treatment. Heat gets cleared and settled. Stagnation gets moved. Depletion gets rebuilt. Use the wrong direction and a patient tells you, politely, that the herbs did nothing.
The five types below are the practical version of that. They are not personality labels and they are not a diagnosis. They are a starting point for a conversation.
How to take the quiz
Answer for your baseline self — the way you have generally been for most of your adult life — not only the last bad week. Check everything that genuinely sounds like you, and skip anything that does not. There is no score to pass.
Step 1 decides between two broad directions. Step 2 refines it. If you are not using a device, you can simply count your checks in each section by hand.
Column A — outward
Column B — inward
Set 1 — Heat and pressure
Set 2 — Holding it in
Set 3 — Worry and second-guessing
Set 4 — Fear and startle
Set 5 — Low mood and flatness
This quiz is an educational self-reflection tool, not a medical or psychological diagnosis. It cannot tell you whether you have an anxiety disorder, depression, or panic disorder — only a licensed clinician can do that. If your mood or fear is interfering with work, sleep, or relationships, please see a physician or mental health professional as well. If you are having thoughts of harming yourself, call or text 988 in the United States for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day.
What do the five emotional types mean?
Below is the full description of each type: what it looks like from the outside, what is happening underneath, and what treatment is aimed at. The formula families named are classical references, not prescriptions — every formula I write is built for the individual after an in-person evaluation.
Type 1 — The Pressure Type
You are direct, capable, and quick. Under stress you speed up rather than slow down. The cost shows in a short fuse, tension that will not release, a chest that feels tight, jaw and shoulders that never let go, and a mind that keeps running at 2 a.m. Many people in this group do not call themselves anxious at all — they call themselves stressed, or busy, or just fed up.
- Common physical signs
- Tension headaches, jaw clenching, acid reflux, red face, dry mouth, high blood pressure, trouble falling asleep, waking with the mind already racing.
- What is happening underneath
- Emotion that pressurizes upward. Traditional Eastern Medicine describes this as constrained Liver energy generating heat that rises to the head and chest. In modern terms it maps closely to sustained sympathetic arousal that never fully stands down.
- Direction of treatment
- Clear the heat, move what is constrained, and bring energy back downward. Acupuncture here is about discharging pressure and restoring the descent that lets sleep happen.
- Classical formula family
- Bupleurum-based formulas that release constraint, often combined with cooling herbs such as Coptis or Gardenia when heat signs are strong.
Type 2 — The Holding Type
You are the calm one. You do not raise your voice, you smooth things over, and people rely on you for that. But the dissatisfaction did not disappear — it was absorbed. Years of swallowing it tends to produce a specific set of complaints: a lump-in-the-throat feeling with nothing physically there, a tight band across the chest, sighing, a stomach that seizes up in conflict, and a heaviness that is hard to name.
- Common physical signs
- Globus sensation in the throat, chest fullness, frequent sighing, bloating that worsens with stress, alternating bowel habits, a sense of fog or heaviness.
- What is happening underneath
- Stagnation. Unexpressed emotion does not move, and what does not move thickens — described in Traditional Eastern Medicine as qi constraint developing into phlegm. This pattern overlaps heavily with stress-driven digestive complaints, which is the other half of my practice.
- Direction of treatment
- Move and open. The aim is circulation — of breath, of digestion, of feeling — rather than sedation. Patients often report that the throat feeling loosens before anything else changes.
- Classical formula family
- Pinellia and Magnolia bark formulas, the classical answer to the throat-lump presentation, adjusted for digestion.
Type 3 — The Worry Type
You think a problem through forty times before bed. Small things become large at night. You are often worried about your own health specifically — a symptom appears and the search begins. Tests come back normal and the relief lasts about a week. You are careful with trust, and you notice things other people miss, which is both the gift and the burden of this type.
- Common physical signs
- Poor appetite or eating for comfort, bloating after meals, loose stools, fatigue that sleep does not fix, foggy memory, difficulty falling asleep because the mind will not stop reviewing.
- What is happening underneath
- Sustained overthinking depletes rather than heats. Traditional Eastern Medicine describes rumination as knotting the Spleen and consuming Heart blood, which is why this type so reliably shows up as anxiety and digestive trouble together.
- Direction of treatment
- Rebuild rather than sedate. Strengthen digestion, nourish what has been spent, and give the nervous system enough reserve that thoughts stop looping.
- Classical formula family
- Longan, Astragalus, and Zizyphus formulas that restore Heart and Spleen together — the classical prescription for worry that has worn a person down.
Type 4 — The Startle Type
You jump when a door closes. You cannot watch a horror film. Being alone in the house after dark is genuinely hard, and it has been that way since childhood — often with severe separation anxiety as a small child. This is the group that most often describes panic attacks: heart pounding out of nowhere, a wave of dread, a need to leave the room, sometimes with no trigger they can name.
- Common physical signs
- Heart palpitations, sudden surges of dread, waking with a jolt, timid or hesitant decision-making, easily startled by noise, cold hands and feet, dream-disturbed sleep.
- What is happening underneath
- The alarm system sits too close to the surface. Traditional Eastern Medicine calls this Heart and Gallbladder timidity — a constitutional lack of the steadiness that lets a person absorb a shock without being knocked over by it.
- Direction of treatment
- Settle and anchor. Gentle needling matters more here than anywhere else; strong stimulation in this type provokes exactly the response we are trying to calm. Korean-style technique is a good fit for that reason.
- Classical formula family
- Warming Gallbladder formulas and sour Zizyphus seed preparations that settle palpitations and startle.
Type 5 — The Emptied Type
This type arrives in two apparently opposite forms. Some people cry at everything and cannot say why. Others have stopped feeling much of anything — joy and sorrow both muted, days passing without color, a sense of being emptied out rather than sad. Both are the same depletion at different depths. Worthlessness and the sense that life has lost its meaning are common here, and they deserve real care rather than management.
- Common physical signs
- Exhaustion that rest does not touch, early waking, appetite loss, heaviness in the limbs, sighing, dryness, no motivation to start anything.
- What is happening underneath
- Reserves have run down. The classical description is a restless, dried-out state in which emotion has no substrate to run on — the body's fuel for feeling is simply gone.
- Direction of treatment
- Nourish and moisten, slowly. This type does not respond well to strong or draining treatment. Progress tends to be gradual and physical first — sleep and appetite return before mood does.
- Classical formula family
- Licorice, wheat, and jujube preparations, the classical formula for unexplained weeping and emotional exhaustion.
- Important
- If this type fits you, please work with a physician or mental health professional alongside any acupuncture or herbal care. This is the type where care should be layered, not substituted.
"The question I need answered is not how bad your anxiety is. It is which direction your system is failing in — pressurized, stuck, worn down, or emptied. The treatment is completely different in each case."
Found your type?
Bring it with you. Tell me which sets you checked and we start the consultation twenty minutes ahead of where we usually would. Evaluation includes pulse and tongue assessment, a full symptom and health history, and a treatment plan you can actually follow.
Book your first visitWhat if I fit two types at once?
Most people do, and that is expected rather than a problem with the quiz. The common combinations tell their own story. Type 1 with Type 5 usually means someone who ran hot for years and has burned down — the pressure pattern exhausting itself into depletion. Type 2 with Type 3 is the classic stress-and-digestion presentation I see constantly: held-in feeling plus rumination, arriving as bloating and irregular bowels. Type 3 with Type 4 produces health anxiety with panic surges attached.
When two patterns are present, treatment usually addresses the more acute one first and the underlying one second. That sequencing is a large part of what a consultation is for.
Can acupuncture and a custom herbal formula actually help anxiety and low mood?
They can help, and they work best as part of a larger picture rather than as a replacement for it. Acupuncture has a reasonable body of research behind it for anxiety and for sleep, and the mechanism is not mysterious: needling shifts autonomic balance toward the parasympathetic side, which is exactly the state that anxiety, held tension, and panic prevent your body from reaching. Patients commonly describe the shift as their body stopping bracing.
Herbal formulas do something different and slower. Acupuncture changes state; a formula changes terrain over weeks. That is why I usually recommend both for emotional conditions, with the formula carrying the work between visits.
What I do not do is ask anyone to stop a prescribed medication. Bring your medication list to the first visit so I can review it for interactions and design the formula around it. A number of my patients are working with a therapist or psychiatrist at the same time, which is generally the arrangement that works best.
What happens at the first visit?
The initial consultation runs long and unhurried. We go through your emotional history the way this quiz does, then your sleep, appetite, digestion, energy, menstrual cycle if applicable, and health history. I check your pulse and look at your tongue, which give physical confirmation of the pattern rather than relying on self-report alone.
Treatment follows in the same visit. I use Korean-style gentle acupuncture — very fine needles, minimal stimulation. For emotional conditions this matters: the goal is to settle a nervous system, not challenge it. Most patients find the treatment itself deeply relaxing, and many fall asleep on the table, including people who insist they cannot nap.
Most patients notice a shift in three to five sessions, with more substantial change over eight to twelve depending on how long the pattern has been in place. If you want the full detail on pricing, insurance, and what to expect, the FAQ page covers it, and you can read more about my background on the About Dr. Sohn page.
Quick answers
Which emotional type is most associated with panic attacks?
Type 4, the Startle Type, is the one that most often reports panic — sudden dread, pounding heart, and a strong urge to leave the situation, frequently in someone who has been easily frightened since childhood. Type 1 also produces panic, but it tends to come after a period of relentless pressure rather than out of nowhere.
Can herbs help depression?
Custom herbal formulas can support low mood, tearfulness, and emotional exhaustion, particularly where sleep, appetite, and energy are also affected. They work gradually and are best used alongside care from a physician or mental health professional, not instead of it.
How is Korean-style acupuncture different for anxiety?
It uses very fine needles with minimal stimulation. For anxious and easily startled patients, a gentler technique is more effective, because strong stimulation triggers the same stress response that treatment is trying to quiet down.
Can I get a custom herbal formula if I take an antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication?
Bring your full medication list to the consultation so it can be reviewed first. Formulas are designed to complement the care you are already receiving, and any change to prescribed medication should be made only with your prescribing physician.
How long before I feel a difference?
Most patients feel something after the first or second session — usually sleep or a drop in physical tension. Meaningful change in mood and reactivity typically takes three to five sessions, with a fuller course of eight to twelve for long-standing patterns.
Do you see patients from Portland?
Yes. The clinic is in Beaverton at 10700 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy, Suite 357, roughly 10 to 15 minutes from SW Portland via OR-217, and a large share of patients drive in from Portland and the surrounding suburbs.
Anxiety, panic, and low mood care in Beaverton and Portland, Oregon
Kihyon Sohn Acupuncture is in Beaverton, Oregon, about ten to fifteen minutes from SW Portland via OR-217, with easy access from Tigard, Lake Oswego, Aloha, Cedar Hills, and Hillsboro. Patients come here for anxiety, panic, insomnia, and stress-related digestive problems, often after conventional care has helped partly but not completely.
If the physical side of your anxiety is what bothers you most — chest tightness, stomach trouble, a body that will not stand down — that is covered in detail in Why does my anxiety feel physical?. If it shows up mainly at night, see why you wake at 3 a.m. every night. If it lands in your gut, the IBS and digestive treatment page is the place to start. For more on how formulas are written and priced, see the custom herbal formula page, and more articles are on the blog.
Know your type. Bring it in.
A consultation starts with the same questions you just answered, then goes considerably deeper — pulse, tongue, history, and a plan written for your pattern rather than your label.
Book an appointment