Chapter Text
Hanahaki Disease (Japanese: 花吐き病, Hepburn: Hanahaki-byō; lit. flower-vomiting disease) commonly known as "Hanahaki", is a chronic disease caused by repressing and denying emotions. Symptoms range from mild to severe fever, coughing, sore throat, fatigue, and shortness of breath. These symptoms begin three to seven days after the first emotions are repressed or denied and last until the disease is cured. Other complications include acute respiratory distress syndrome, and worsening of pre-existing health problems such as asthma and cardiovascular disease.
The term hanahaki comes from the Japanese words hana (花), which means "flower", and hakimasu (吐きます), which means "to throw up". The disease was first discovered by Naoko Matsuda (松田奈緒子) in 2009. A patient displaying symptoms of an insistent and painful cough showed plant-like membranes growing inside the patient's lungs. As the disease persisted, the patient began coughing out petals of commonly found flowers, and eventually throwing up fully blooming flower-blossoms.
Signs and symptoms
The time between the first repression or denial of emotion and development of the symptoms (the incubation period) is three to seven days, depending heavily on the intensity of the repressed or denied emotion. The onset of symptoms is slow and gradual, the initial symptoms including shortness of breath, dizziness, and coughing. The symptoms will increase in severity over the length of the disease, though they may ease up and intensify again depending on the patient's emotional state.
If the patient is repressing and/or denying very strong or multiple emotions, their symptoms will rapidly worsen. They may be able to ease up again if the patient admits to some of their feelings, or if their feelings ease up in their intensity. Once a patient suffers from the disease for multiple months, they are at a very high risk of coughing out blood, as their lungs will be completely covered in "roots". However, no matter how bad the disease becomes, it will not lead to a patient's death.
Flower Occurence and Meaning
The petals and blossoms produced by patients are generally not random but correspond to the nature of the repressed emotion: the flower type and color tend to mirror what the patient is feeling. Clinicians and collectors of case reports have noted that these floral patterns closely match traditional floral symbolism — most notably the meanings catalogued in Kate Greenaway’s Language of Flowers.
The quantity of flowers expelled is also believed to correlate with the intensity of the repressed or denied emotions. Repressed or denied emotions that are less severe in their intensity will commonly make the patient cough out nothing more than petals, while deeper-set emotions, or emotions the patient is trying harder to repress or deny, will result in single or multiple fully grown blossoms. If these are not properly coughed out when they occur, they can significantly hinder the patient’s breathing.
Treatment
There are currently two known treatments available for patients suffering from hanahaki. The most commonly used treatment is entirely dependent on the patient, as they will be cured of their acute symptoms once they admit to their feelings. For especially deep-set emotions, the patient may need several days of persisting symptoms until their lungs are cleared of the blossoms. For some emotions regarding other people, such as love or jealousy, may require the patient to admit their feelings not only towards themself, but also towards the person their emotions are toward. However, it plays no role how the unaffected person reacts to the patient's confession.
The second possible treatment is the surgical removal of the blossoms as well as the "roots" from their lungs. This may dampen their ability to feel the emotion/s that caused the disease, though will not affect the person otherwise.
Aftereffects
After a patient has admitted to their emotions, their acute symptoms will come to a stop. If the patient suffered from the disease for less than a month, the "roots" in their lungs will completely wither and be expelled with any left-over petals or flowers still in their lungs. If the length of the disease exceeds a month, the likelihood of the "roots" being left in the patient's lungs heightens. This will not be noticeable for the patient, though it may have effects on any pre-existing health problems such as asthma and cardiovascular disease.
Patients with residual "roots" in their lungs are at a much higher risk of developing hanahaki again, as the "roots" will produce flowers once more if the patient represses or denies their emotions, with the symptoms setting in much faster. However, if a patient has gotten the "roots" surgically removed, they are at a far smaller risk of developing hanahaki once more, though it isn't impossible.
Hanahaki
Hanahaki Disease
Artwork by @feefal on IG
Symptoms:
Usual onset:
Duration:
Causes:
Coughing, fatigue, dizziness, fever, sore throat
3-7 days after first repression
Undetermined
Repressing and denying emotions