The annual World Mental Health Day (WMHD) is on October 10 and Dubai Herbal & Treatment Centre’s (DHTC) Ayurveda Specialist Dr Asha Rani has some advice for therapeutic Ayurveda mental treatment.
Originating in 1992 WMHD was started as an annual activity by the World Federation for Mental Health to promote mental health advocacy and educating the public on relevant issues. Every year WMHD has a certain theme and for 2005 it is ‘Mental and physical health across the life span’.
Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of medicine based on the five healing elements: fire, air, water, earth and vacuum (ether). It works by balancing the three basic doshas; Pitta, Kapha and Vata, combinations of the basic elements. According to Dr Rani, Ayurveda recognises mental well being as an essential pre-requisite of a healthy person.
“Mental health is recognised as an essential pre-requisite of a healthy person in Ayurveda,” says Dr Rani.
The major categories of mental diseases are neuroses (chittodwega), psychoses (unmada), convulsive disorders (apasmara), and obsessive disorders (attattvabhinivesa) including alcoholism, fainting and coma.
“We are particularly relevant to our times when we are forced to battle continuously against stress and strain for our survival,” she said. “To promote and preserve mental healthy daily regime, seasonal regime, code of virtues, prevention of diseases, and rules pertaining to food and drink should be followed.”
As vata, pitta, and kapha are the three dosha of the body, rajas and tamas are the dosha of the mind. Dr Rani says mental diseases can be defined as an abnormal mental condition characterized by impairment of general mental conditions, weak psyche, imbalance in body and mind dosha or mind dosha alone or disturbance in the channels of the mind.
Treatment for mental illness mainly includes psychotherapy (daivivyyapasraya and satvapajaya) along side full fledged treatments (yukti vyapasraya chikitsa) using drugs, diet and lifestyle management.
The treatment is classified into three methods; the first one is when the dosha of mind are unbalanced by emotional disturbances treated by psycho-behavioral therapy. The second is when body and mind dosha are unbalanced where the clinical manifestations appear as physical illness and are relieved only when emotional disturbances are overcome with behavioral therapy. Also when primary involvement is physical illness subsequently mental impairment treated mainly with drugs and psycho-behavioral therapies. The third is when both mind and body dosha are unbalanced which takes a long time to treat with both drugs and behavioral therapies.
