Ayurvedic Treatment for Anxiety
The Ayurvedic Treatment for Anxiety - Important Facts You Should Know
The prime text of medicine in Ayurveda is known as the Charaka Samhita. This famous text states that the body and mind of human beings is both the house of well-being and diseases. When there is harmony between the two, the person will be fit and fine. Ayurveda deals with the relationship that exists between the psychological and physiological components of human being. No matter what symptoms of diseases you face, almost all the diseases involve both mind and body. The text clearly says that whether you are healthy or unhealthy, it is because of a particular cause.
As per Ayurveda, doshic imbalance is the main agent of a particular disease. Ayurvedic diagnosis via palpation and visual inspection help the physicians in understanding the imbalance of a human body. However, ancient physicians also believed that diseases could occur in the human body due to causes, which are non-perceivable. The two main consequences that a human body faces owing to diseases are desire and fear.
How Does Ayurveda Describe Anxiety?
The Ayurvedic medicine describes the state of acute anxiety as Unmada. This disease affects the nerves of human body and also causes distraction of the mind. The symptoms of the disease are seen both mentally and physically. Some of the symptoms include palpitations, dizziness, fatigue, headache, phobias, agitation of eyes, tremors, nervousness, breathlessness, mental confusion, vomiting, forgetfulness, incoherent speech, chest pains, anorexia and paresthesias. Every person with anxiety has a particular variety of desire or fear, which is unique to that individual. The Ayurvedic treatment for Anxiety involves the recognition of mental aberration and then tries to transcend it.
Another way in which Ayurveda has described anxiety is prajnaparadha. In this state, a person acts without using common sense. He loses the memory of universal wisdom and rhythms and acts in ignorance. Such a person suffers from volitional transgression. A person going through this state uses his vital energies to do all kinds of unnatural activities, which ultimately act as a virus for his or her body and mind.
Sometimes, anxiety can be caused owing to several stress factors rather than only one cause. In such a case, the Ayurvedic remedies for anxiety involve the treatment of several doshas at a time. Anxiety is mainly a disease of the Vata. One is the Prana Vata whose impairment in anxiety causes the sub-optimal functioning of the senses, mind, and memory of a person. The other is Vyana Vata whose aggravation results in over-utilization of energy in an inefficient manner.
What Are The Ayurvedic Treatments Available For Acute Anxiety?
For dealing with acute anxiety, it is important to treat the Vata. Treatments of the disease include both heat and oleation, which are to be done internally as well as externally.
External oleation involves oil massages, which continue for 5 to 7 days for about 15 to 60 minutes. You can do messages either all by yourself or by a therapist. Internal oleation involves the intake of sesame oil, cow’s ghee, or other kinds of animal fat by the patient. The dosage of such oleation varies from person to person and continues for about 4 to 7 days. If you find that you are having abdominal bloating, or edema, the dosage of internal oleation must be reduced.
After the oleation, the patient must undergo a sweat therapy or swedana. Oleation helps to loosen the doshas from tissues while sweating, helps to liquefy them. There are several ways of sweat therapy like hot water bottles, steam baths, mustard plasters, etc. This therapy must continue for about four days. Sometimes heating herbs promotes the therapeutic sweating. These natural remedies for anxiety work wonders in treating the disease.
Many physicians also suggest effective herbal remedies for anxiety, which can be used as an initial therapy for the disease. The herbal-based preparations are a mixture of medicated ghees, which get prepared as per the proper instructions and recipes. Well-known Ayurvedic physicians can offer you a perfect guide for preparing these effective medications.