心病

• Pinyin: xīn bìng
• Hanzi breakdown: 心 = heart (pictograph); 病 = 疒 (sickness radical) + 丙 (fire — fever and disease)

Meaning

A worry or concern that weighs heavily on the mind; a preoccupation or psychological burden; a heartache.

Refers to a deep-seated worry, hidden anxiety, or emotional wound that a person cannot let go of. Often describes something the person is reluctant to talk about. The proverb '心病还须心药医' (a heart ailment must be cured with the right remedy) is closely associated with this term.

Examples

1. 儿子的婚事一直是老人的心病，他日日夜夜都在担心。 His son’s marriage has long been the old man’s biggest worry, and he frets about it day and night.
2. 这件陈年旧事成了她心中多年难以消散的心病。 That old incident became a lingering ache in her heart that never fully faded, even after many years.
3. 心病不治，身体也会跟着垮掉，要学会适时放下。 If you don’t address what’s weighing on your mind, your body can break down too—you need to learn to let go at the right time.

Usage Guide

Context: family, psychology, everyday, literature

Tone: negative

Do Say

• 父母年迈却仍独居在外，这一直是他多年来最大的心病，令他寝食难安。(His elderly parents still living alone far away had always been his greatest worry, robbing him of sleep and appetite for years.)
• 要彻底消除这块心病，还需要从根本上解决双方之间的积怨与误解。(To completely remove this burden on the mind, it is necessary to fundamentally resolve the accumulated grievances and misunderstandings between the two parties.)

Don't Say

• 我有心病 meaning 'I have a heart disease' in medical contexts — use 心脏病 for cardiac illness; 心病 is psychological/emotional

Origin & History

心 (heart/mind) + 病 (illness/ailment) — literally an 'illness of the heart,' i.e. a mental or emotional burden

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal