It is a standard assumption for us, part of our worldview in Chinese medicine, that the part reflects the whole. Enough reflections from different parts, and we have a pretty good idea of what the whole is doing.
The whole can be an organ in the body, the whole body, or even the body of society.
Increasingly over a number of years, a certain scenario has been recurring. Patients, especially those working for large firms, have been becoming more and more run-down, exhausted, burnt out. Treatment helps, but before long it is obvious that it is all being poured back into the job, and that “treatment” has become “maintenance.” Soon even that is slipping. Things continue to slide downhill until they finally and reluctantly quit the job, and then they gradually recover their health, and are much happier as well.
Now people in modern societies generally work harder than is necessary or good for them, but this has gone far beyond that. There is something different going on. Here is the story we hear, again and again:
Why Work is Killing You
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Xiaoyao at his last job.
The Fat Monk 