Mental Health

Do you know what doesn’t add up for me? When we are physically unwell we take time to allow the body to recover, so why do we not do the same for when our stress levels increase or our mood and emotions fluctuate?

Why do medical doctors easily prescribe a pill when we are feeling unhappy or anxious as a blanket solution? and why are anti-depressants so common? Conventional medicine suppresses the negative (and positive) thoughts produced by the ‘mental illness’ by altering the neurochemicals within the brain while allowing just the cognitive function to take place. Fluctuation in our mood is an inevitable part of life and we must understand our mind just as we need to understand the body to know where our vulnerabilities lie.

We don’t have to feel burdened with mental health issues or feel embarrassed. With the foot flooring the gas pedal of life and exposure to more and more stressors, insomnia, anxiety and depression have become an epidemic. I see so many of these issues in parallel with physical conditions caused by an underlying imbalance. According to the Mental Health Foundation, 74% of people in the UK in 2017 ‘felt so stressed they have been overwhelmed and unable to cope’. Don’t despair, there are lots of options and help available before you even have to consider going to the GP to pop a pill.

Like all ‘physical’ health conditions in Ayurveda we are looking for the dominant dosha and guna involved with the underlying imbalance. We often allow the mind to get caught up and attached to the interpretation of our thoughts, perceptions, concerns, emotions and opinions.