HOW DEPRESSION CAN BE TREATED WITH AYURVEDA?

WHAT IS DEPRESSION?

Depression is a mental health disorder which is characterized by the persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in day to day activities. It affects a person’s way of thinking, eating and sleeping patterns and several behavioral changes. It can lead to physical and emotional changes also.

A person can normally feel sad about some of the life difficult situations but depression is a feeling of constant sadness for prolonged time period. It involves several other factors other than sadness. He or she loses interest in daily activities and sometimes causes self-harm also.

But depression is completely curable with talk therapy and medications. They are very helpful in management of symptoms.

WHAT ARE THE VARIOUS CAUSES OF DEPRESSION?

Some of the various reasons responsible for the occurrence of depression are:

• Having a genetic predisposition to depression
• Imbalance of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine
• Difficult life experiences like death of a loved one, divorce, lack of support, financial problems, etc
• Chronic health conditions like diabetes, SLE, cancer
• Excessive intake of alcohol
• Drug abuse
• Thyroid problems
• Menopause
• Certain medications like sleeping pills, blood pressure medications, etc
• Eating disorders

WHAT ARE THE COMMON SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION?

The common signs and symptoms of depression are:

• Feeling sad and hopeless
• Getting irritated and frustrated over small issues
• Loss of interest in once enjoyable activities such as hobbies, sports, etc
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss
• Angry outbursts
• Excessive sleep or lack of sleep
• Feeling tired
• Restlessness
• Anxiety
• Difficulty in concentration and thinking
• Loss of memory
• Headache
• Pain in back
• Recurrent thoughts of death
• Self-harm

WHAT ARE THE COMPLICATIONS WHICH ARE RELATED TO DEPRESSION?

Depression is related with some complications. Following are the complications which are associated with depression:

• Excessive intake of alcohol
• Drug abuse
• Increase in body weight rapidly
• Heart diseases
• Social isolation
• Difficulty in relationships
• Work problems
• Suicide
• Pain in whole body
• Self-harm
• Premature death due to various health conditions

HOW DEPRESSION CAN BE PREVENTED?

Depression can be prevented by taking some of the precautionary measures. Following are the preventive measures which can be taken for depression:

• Taking regular sleep
• Yoga
• Meditation
• Regular physical exercise
• Eating healthy diet
• Talking to loved ones such as friends and family

WHAT IS THE AYURVEDIC CONCEPT OF DEPRESSION?

In Ayurveda, depression is known as Vishada. It occurs because of the imbalance of the three doshas – vata, pitta and kapha. All these three doshas get aggravated leading to manifestation of various signs and symptoms. Our body also consists of three gunas – satva, rajas and tamas. When rajas and tamas gunas are increased, this leads to depression. However, there are various ayurvedic herbs and panchkarma therapies which help in treatment of depression.

Following are some of the herbs which help in management of depression:

• Ashwagandha
• Jatamansi
• Brahmi
• Mulethi
• Vacha
• Pushkarmoola
• Hing
• Ajmoda

CHANDIGARH AYURVED CENTRE’S MEDICATIONS FOR THE TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION

Here are some of the medications of Chandigarh Ayurved centre which are used for the treatment of depression:

1. Brodley Syrup

This syrup maintains the overall activity of the brain. As the herbs used for the preparation of this syrup are Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri), Shankhpushpi (Convolvulus pluricaulis), Dhania (Coriandrum sativum), Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Saunf (Foeniculum vulgare), etc. These all acts as a mind relaxant. The use of this syrup provides good results to the dementia patient. This syrup has the best memory boosting power and helps in increasing the blood flow to the brain. It is used as an antioxidant that increases retention power
Recommended Dosage:Take 2 teaspoonful twice daily.

2. Mann Mitra tablet

Mann Mitra tablet is herbal and purely ayurvedic medicine. It is used in Ayurvedic treatment for psychiatric conditions and help to balance all the three doshas of body i.e vata, pitta, kapha. CAC Mann Mitra tablet improves intelligence and speech problems. It is helpful for making the nervous system strong and nerves as well. It contains various herbs like Bala, Vacha, Shankhpushpi, Nagkeshar etc that help you fight insomnia, anxiety, and stress. It works as a antioxidant, anti depressant, immuno booster, anti epileptic and as neuro protective drug.
Recommended Dosage:Take 1 tablet twice a day with normal water.

3. Rasayan Vati

Rasayan vati is herbo-mineral Ayurvedic formulation which contains various herbs such as Aswagandha, Shilajeet, Amla, Musali, Shatavar, Brahmi,  Mukta pisti, Praval pisti, , Kaunch Beej, Saunth, Mirch, Brahmi, etc. These ingredients show antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, analgesic, immune-modulator properties. These tablets provides good results in General debility, Psychological disorders, and improves immunity.
Recommended Dosage:Take 1 tablet twice daily.

4. Calm Sleep tablet

Calm sleep tablet is an amazing combination of natural herbs like bhang, Brahmi, Tagar, jatamansi. It helps to relieve stressful conditions. They help to pacify the nervous system and also helps to calm minds and make your body relax and light. In Ayurveda when there is an imbalance of three energies i.e. vata, pitta and Kapha, it leads to disease. Vata has a sub dosha named prana doshas which regulates the sensory perception, brain, and mind. calm sleep tablets is effective in depression, anxiety, insomnia, amnesia, Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, and hypertension.

Recommended Dosage:Take 1 tablet twice a daily.

5. Brain relaxant churna

This churna is a pure Ayurvedic preparation which contains Amla (Emlica officinalis), Sonth (Zingiber officinale), Pippali (Piper longum), Marich (Piper nigrum), Haldi (Curcuma longa), Bala (Sida cordifolia), Suddha gandhak, Lauha bhasma, etc. It is mainly used for the treatment of psychiatric conditions, speech problems, to improve the intelligence and also beneficial in sleep disturbances, panic attacks, phobia, and relieves stress.
Recommended Dosage:Take 1 tablespoonful twice daily.

6. Stress care tablet

Stress care tablets are pure herbal formulation prepared from ingredients like Sarpgandha (Rauwolfia serpentine), Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri), Jatamansi (Nardostacys jatamansi).The herbs used for formulation of these tablets show antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-stress, anti-depressant, & immune-modulator properties. These herbal tablets gives good result in Stress, Depression, Anxiety, All neurological disorders, Increases intelligence, and Improves memory.
Recommended Dosage:Take 1 tablet twice daily.