Book

Description

Understanding Unmāda in the Modern Era: Ayurvedic Insights into Mental Health and Psychiatry offers a rigorous and integrative exploration of mental disorders through the classical Ayurvedic concept of Unmāda. Rooted in authoritative Ayurvedic texts such as the Caraka Saṃhitā, Suśruta Saṃhitā, and Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdaya, the book critically examines the conceptual foundations, etiopathogenesis, clinical features, classification, prognosis, and therapeutic principles of Unmāda, while placing them in dialogue with contemporary psychiatric understanding. Moving beyond symptom-based diagnostic models, the text highlights Ayurveda’s holistic framework, wherein disturbances of manas, buddhi, smṛti, saṃjñā, and ācāra are understood as outcomes of complex psycho-somatic interactions. The work explores correlations between classical descriptions of Unmāda and modern psychiatric conditions such as psychotic disorders, mood disorders, anxiety states, and cognitive disturbances, without reducing Ayurvedic concepts to biomedical equivalents. Special emphasis is placed on individualized and preventive approaches, including doṣa-prakṛti assessment, dietary and lifestyle regulation, behavioral discipline, śodhana therapies, medhya rasāyana, and psychospiritual interventions. The book also reflects on contemporary challenges in mental healthcare, including chronicity, stigma, and fragmented care, and discusses how Ayurvedic principles may contribute to a more humane and integrative mental health framework. Written for postgraduate students, academicians, clinicians, and researchers in Ayurveda, psychiatry, psychology, and integrative medicine, this book seeks to reaffirm the relevance of Ayurvedic wisdom in addressing the evolving mental health needs of the modern world through critical scholarship and interdisciplinary dialogue.