Depression is a mental health condition and should not be considered a disease. But it can be a serious health concern for many individuals. Much care and attention must be given to those who are diagnosed with Clinical Depression as they are prone to panic attacks, negative and self-destructive thoughts.
Those with depression heal better when they have constant emotional and mental support from their friends and family and with the help of medicines and treatments. Ayurveda is a powerful science that offers Ayurvedic Treatment for Depression and many other mental and physical health conditions. Ayurveda is a science that heals and treats diseases with a holistic and nature-inspired approach with the use of herbal medicines and natural treatment methods.
Ayurvedic Treatment for Depression
Depression is a common and yet undiagnosed medical health condition amongst many healthy individuals. Most of us shrug off depression as a phase of life or simply a mood but depression can be much more serious than that.
It can cause severe disruption to the life, career, and mental stability of an individual and may also affect the individual’s personal and work life. It can cause problems with health as the patient might either undereat or overeat and may not take care of his/her health.
Each one of these is the three doshas that every human being has within himself. The imbalance of one of the three may cause a specific type of depression and takes a toll on the mental health of the patient. Each one has different symptoms and needs to be treated differently.
Ayurvedic Treatment for Depression is different when compared to allopathy. Depression can of three types based on the presence of three doshas in the body:
- Pitta Induced Depression
Pitta Induced Depression is caused by some tragic loss in life and can have severe impacts on one’s mental stability. It can cause the individual to have severe symptoms such as harsh language or self-criticism, Being irritated and angry all the time, frequent aggression, guilt, feeling of being a failure and being useless, etc.
In these situations, an ayurvedic practitioner recommends medicines and treatments that can balance the pitta dosha in the body. This can be done by changes in diet such as eating cooling and soothing food instead of hot and spicy food, medicines that balance pitta dosha in the body, massages with herbal oils that can improve the balance of all three doshas, etc.
- Vata Induced Depression
Vata Induced depression is caused by the imbalance of Vata Dosha in the patient’s body. This is triggered by some trauma or shock that the patient has undergone. The symptoms of this kind of depression are Feeling of sadness and hopelessness, insomnia, mood swings, fear and anxiety, pain in the body etc.
In this case vata balancing food is prescribed to the patient such as crude foods. Food with sweet, salt and sour helps in balancing vata dosha naturally. Herbal oils and medicines are also given to the patients
- Kapha Induced Depression
Kapha induced depression happens due to the presence of excessive kapha in the body. The symptoms of this depression are tiredness, no zest for life, inactivity, excessive eating or sleeping, lack of interest in life, sluggishness, weight gain etc.
This disorder can be cured by balancing the kaphas dosha in the body by eating whole foods and with controlled portions. Yoga and Pranayam along with herbal medicines can help in treating this disorder.