Janey's blog: Ayurvedic medicine for schizophrenia
I found this plain language summary really interesting to write because I’ve read a lot about ayurvedic medicine and have ayurvedic aroma oils and tea at home.
Basically this form of medicine sees everything (people’s body type and mind, the seasons, food and illnesses) as a mixture of Doshas, where vata is light and cool, pitta is hot and dry and kapha is cold and damp. Schizophrenia is seen as a vata imbalance, while depression is thought of as a kapha imbalance.
Tagara, as mentioned in the summary, is the Indian name for valerian, which is a herb that is available from health food shops in the UK. Brahmyadiyoga is a mixture of herbs including Rauwolfia serpentine, which was used by Mahatma Gandi as a tranquilliser. The active chemical from it, reserpine was introduced as a treatment for schizophrenia in the 1950s but was withdrawn because of the side effects.
In a NOT evidence-based way, I find my aroma oil does calm me down and when I take it into the ward with me it does seem to reduce the general level of arousal but I’ve not measured this in any systematic way. Perhaps I should…
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