How to cure depression with Ayurveda?

Ayurvedic Treatment for Depression, Headache and Irregular Periods

Some ayurvedic herbs and spices can help reduce the symptoms of depression. Only An Ayurvedic expert suggests some herbal remedies for depression.

Depression is a major health epidemic, affecting 10-15% of the population of the western world.1 While almost everyone has experienced depression to some degree as a feeling of extreme sadness and melancholy, more and more people are being diagnosed and treated for clinical depression, a mood disorder characterized by ongoing sadness, anger, loss or frustration that lasts for weeks, months, or years and interferes with one’s abilities to work, go to school, and perform the functions of normal daily life.

Western medicine does not attribute a precise cause to depression, and medical researchers are currently exploring theories linking clinical depression to genetics, as well as to abnormalities in brain biochemistry. Depression can be triggered by disruption to normal brain chemistry caused by factors such as long-term sleep disturbance, long-term use of drugs affecting the endocrine system, patterns of drug and alcohol abuse, and diseases of the thyroid.2 Depression can also be triggered by stressful or traumatic events.

Depression is diagnosed by the ongoing presence of some or all of the following symptoms, present continuously over time and of such severity that they interfere with the functions of everyday life:
● negative distortion of worldview/negative attitude/hopelessness/pessismism
● helplessness/low self esteem
● sadness
● agitation/restlessness/irritability/anxiety
● changes in appetite/weight gain/weight loss
● difficulty concentrating
● fatigue/low energy
● feelings of worthlessness/self-hate/guilt
● withdrawal/isolation
● headache/stomachache/digestive disturbance

Depression victimizes millions every year and it leaves the person concerned with irreparable consequences. With our changing lifestyles, and stressful lives, depression has become quite a common disease in our country and more than 10% of the population is suffering from it.

The symptoms of depression include:

• Frequent sad, anxious or “empty” mood
• loss of interest and pleasure in activities
• irritability and family conflict
• loss of appetite or weight gain
• Low Self Esteem
• The feeling of guilt and worthlessness
• Social withdrawal and agitation
• Difficulty in concentration and making decisions
• Sleeping too less(insomnia) or too much (hypersomnia)

In Ayurveda, depression is stated as Vishada, although it is categorized under mental disorders, depression can do a lot of harm to the physical state of the body. It is an illness that can in grip your whole body and make you paranoid about life. The way you eat, the way you work, the way you sleep, everything is affected.

So, depression is a serious condition that cannot be overlooked and needs to be treated before things get worse.

In Ayurveda, the best treatment for depression is Shirodhara. It is one of the most popular Ayurvedic treatments across the globe. Shira here means head, and dhara means the flow of liquid, so together it means the flow of liquid on the head. It has a well-established of slowly, persistently, and steadily pouring medicated oil drop by drop on the forehead of the concerned person. This procedure ignites a state of awareness and calmness in the person and helps in creating physio-psychological balance. It relieves vata(wind) from the mind and that’s why is one of the most powerful treatments to cure depression.

 Tags: Ayurvedic treatments, Depression, lifestyles, mental disorders, Shirodhara treatment