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Positive psychiatry in Ayurveda: A Historical review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2025

W. Upadhyaya*
Affiliation:
Thriftwood College
S. Bhat
Affiliation:
Old age Psychiatry, Essex partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Chelmsford, United Kingdom
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Ayurveda is Indian traditional medicine that has a considerable presence in Europe. Incidentally the definition of health developed by the WHO since 1946 has striking similarities with the ones found in Ayurveda texts dating back few millenia ago. The encouragement Ayurveda provides in the pursuit of a flourishing life resonates with the principles and philosophy of Positive psychiatry. So this begs the question did Ayurveda have concepts resembling positive psychiatry and if so, what were the tenets. To this aim we review an Ayurveda text dating back to 3000 BC called Charaka Samhita.

Objectives

To explore concepts related to positive psychiatry and psychology in Charaka Samhita.

Methods

Relevant chapters and sections in Charaka Samhita were screened for descriptions or recommendations for mental health and a meaningful life.

Results

Similarities between Positive Psychiatry and Ayurveda Psychiatry were present. As a part of psychotherapy Ayurveda recommends cultivation of spiritual awareness, wisdom fortitude/resileance and practice meditation. It further encourages the pursuit of ethically reasonable desires, material prosperity and righteous- religious conduct. For the healthy individuals, it recommends maintaining robust physical and mental health, actively accumulating wealth ethically and attain spiritual liberation.

Conclusions

We conclude Ayurveda had its own version of Positive Psychiatry and delineates ways to achieve it.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

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Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
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