Overview
Ayurveda aims at preservation and promotion of heath, and prevention and cure of diseases through the concepts of positive physical and mental health. Management of mental disorders or psychological medicine was an area of specialization even during ancient times.
Types of Mental Disorders
There cannot be any limit to the mental diseases. For the treatment point of view most of the psychological diseases fall under these headings –
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Dementia
- Impulse-control disorders
- Personality disorders
- Obsessive Compulsive Neurosis
- Schizophrenia
MANASAVIKARA CIKITSA ( Treatment of mental disorders) – Ayurvedic treatment for the mitigation of the diseases has always been through holistic approach. Ayurveda recommends three types of treatment viz., Daivavyapasraya chikitsa (divine or spiritual therapy), Yuktivyapasraya chikitsa (logical or the medicinal therapy), and Satwavajaya chikitsa (psycho therapy) for treating mental illnesses .
Ayurveda produces also significant results as a complementary treatment method to allopathy in disorders such as depression, anxiety and OCD. There have been studies conducted where the dependency on allopathic medicine was reduced with a simultaneous increase in the ayurvedic dosage. In most of the cases dependency on allopathic medication is completely eliminated.