Causes
Underlying causes may include:

amuk
prior instances of major depressive disorder
prior instances of anxiety disorder
prior instances of adjustment disorder
prior instances of other somatoform disorders
repression of feelings of anger/resentment arising from past eventsTriggering causes are typically external events, including:

familial stressors, e.g. spousal infidelity or conflict with in-laws
witnessing acts/actions/phenomena that conflict with ones own moral and/or ethical principlesThe syndrome itself is believed to be the result of the continued repression of feelings of anger without addressing their source. In holistic medicine the containment of anger in hwabyung disturbs the balance of the five bodily elements, resulting in the development of psychosomatic symptoms such as panic, insomnia, and depression after a long period of repressed feelings. It is possible that hormonal imbalances such as those around the time of menopause may also be an underlying cause of hwabyung in middle-aged women, the most often-diagnosed demographic. Treatment
Western doctors are more likely to diagnose it as a kind of stress or depression. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders currently lists hwabyeong among its culture-bound illnesses. Outside of Korea, informally hwabyeong may be mistaken as a reference to a psychological profile marked by a short temper, or explosive, generally bellicose behavior. To the contrary, hwabyeong is a traditional psychological term used to refer to a condition characterized by passive suffering, is roughly comparable to depression, and is typically associated with older women. It is important that when diagnosing Hwabyeong, the culture of the patient is well understood.
performed a study in elderly women to compare the efficacy and safety of a daily dose of 1,500 IU to a weekly dose of 10,500 IU and to a dose of 45,000 IU given every 28 days for two months. They concluded that supplementation with vitamin D can be equally achieved with daily, weekly, or monthly dosing frequencies. Another study comparing daily, weekly, and monthly supplementation of vitamin D in deficient patients was published by Takacs et al. They reported an equal efficacy of 1,000 IU taken daily, 7,000 IU taken weekly, and 30,000 IU taken monthly. Nevertheless, these consistent findings differ from the report by Chel et al., in which a daily dose was more effective than a monthly dose. In that study, the compliance calculation could be questionable since only random samples of the returned medications were counted. In a study by De Niet et al., 60 subjects with vitamin D deficiency were randomized to receive 2,000 IU vitamin D3 daily or 50,000 IU monthly. They reported a similar efficacy of the two dosing frequencies, with the monthly dose providing a more rapid normalization of vitamin D levels. Single-dose therapy
Alternatively, a single-dose therapy is used for instance if there are concerns regarding the patients compliance. The single-dose therapy can be given as an injection but is normally given in form of an oral medication. Vitamin D doses and meals
The presence of a meal and the fat content of that meal may also be important.