Mental Health Issues - The Growing Pandemic

Overview

Mental Health disorders include occasional & long-lasting conditions that affect thinking, mood, & behavior. This category of illnesses carries a certain stigma in the Indian subcontinent and is significantly under-reported.

These include generalized anxiety disorders, depression, sleep disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, altered mental status, & memory issues.

The Quality of Life is grossly affected with mental health disorders, especially affecting the well-being & ill-being, relationships, as well as physical health, all ultimately impacting self-identity & self-esteem. Females are more affected than males.

“More than 32% of Indians suffer from clinical depression & anxiety disorders”

Current Treatment Options

Currently available treatment options stem from the reductionist approach which causes lesser symptom resolution, low rates of full remission, substantial residual symptoms, high relapse rates.

The treatment protocols target neurotransmitter physiology that creates unwanted anticholinergic effects (cognitive impairment, heart rhythm issues, dry mouth & constipation), H1 blockade effects (drowsiness & weight gain), and 5HT2C agonist effects (nausea, dry mouth, reduced appetite, anxiety, fatigue, tremors.

The memory loss caused by modern medicines have serious effects on the Quality of Life of already compromised patients. Many researches have supported revelation of how and why Psychiatry drug therapies have contributed to a standard of care which frequently does more harm than cure. #

The current Psychiatry’s approach fails to accommodate the vital capacity of the microglia in the normal functioning of the neurons.

Alternative Solution

First and foremost is the switching over of the approach, from Reductionist to Holistic. The best scientific holistic patient care is elicited in Ayurveda. Its multiprong therapies for mental illnesses backed with inter-systemic pathogenesis proves the reason for its higher efficacy.

Āyurvedic treatment protocols do not target just neurotransmitters. They work on the Gut-Brain Axis, components of the Automonic Nervous System, the Neurotransmitters, and the individual’s Diet and Lifestyle determined by his Prakrti (elemental constitution of the individual).

Gut-Brain Axis

Recent neuroscience researches have confirmed the causal relationship between the gut microbiome and psychiatric illnesses. Fecal microbiota Transplantation (FMT) & Microbial Ecosystem Therapeutics-2 (MET-2) are currently deploying therapeutic protocols around this pathogenesis. There is still the reductionist approach in these two protocols, which alarm again a limited success rate. Studies in mice have shown the absence of gut microbes is associated with structural alterations of the blood-brain barrier.

Related experiments using chronically-administered antibiotics to deplete the gut microbiota in mice resulted in object recognition impairment and decreased hippocampal neurogenesis and memory retention, which is reversed by administering probiotic bacteria.

Basti, which means administration of Āyurvedic medication via the anal route, encompasses the correction of the gut microbiome considering the biotic & abiotic factors of the ecosystem and the time period of the year influencing the gut flora. It is considered as ‘Ardha Chikitsā’ (vast therapeutic scope) by Āyurvedic physicians. It works by modulating the gut microbiome and is useful in majority of diseases, though it is the preferred therapy in the diseases caused due to Vāta, which is the humor that is responsible for the cellular & systemic activities like motion, sensory & motor activity, and modulation of the domain of other doshas’ influence (neuromodulatory & neurohormonal).

Shirodhārā, which is bathing of the head with medicinal oils and decoctions provides quick action on the nervous tissue and work on the vital Kapāla, Murdhini, Shivarandhra, Bhrahmarandhra, & Manyamula marma of the head that influence cognition, emotional regulation, and mental wellbeing.

Nasya includes administration of medicinal oil or ghrita in the nasal cavity. Nasal cavity is considered as the gateway to the brain. Āyurvedic pharmacokinetics mentions distribution of the drug administered reaching various parts of the brain via the Shringataka Marma & the Nāsā Srotas to remove the morbid Doshas.

i-Yoga, which is a combination of Astāng Yoga & elements of Satvāvajaya, whose modern derivative is Emotional Intelligence & Positive Psychology, caters to the holistic aspect of mental illnesses decreasing the relapses and building the mental immunity for stressful conditions.

The Dinačaryā & Ritučaryā protocols specify the time-related & ecosystem-related modulation in food intake thereby arresting the malfunction of the gut microbiota.

Vedic wisdom in the form of Āyurveda is the holistic solution to most mental health issues.