Understanding Schizophrenia or UNMADA
In Ayurveda, all diseases are perceived as an imbalance in doshas. Schizophrenia is a mental condition where the person tends to believe in imaginary scenarios and act accordingly. It leads to hallucination, delusion, and thinking disorders. It is one of the most challenging mental disorders of all time. The ayurvedic understanding of mental disorders is known as Unmada, a combination of your internal energy, thoughts, and emotions.
The original text of Ayurveda, the Charaka Samhita defines this mental instability as “the perversion of the mind, intellect, consciousness, knowledge, memory, desire, manners, behavior, and conduct”.
The accumulation of ama, toxins in the body, is seen as the core reason that brings imbalance in dosha. Ayurveda is a school of science that sees the body and mind as a single working unit, hence its approach toward treatment is also holistic. The imbalance in Vata dosha makes a person more susceptible to mental health disorders as it is the function of Vata to communicate the signals of the brain to the body and the body to the brain.