Hindu Epic Mahabharata Offers Answers to Psychiatric Issues: India Medical Association (IMA) President

• Dr. KK Aggarwal says that Lord Krishna in the true sense was the first and the most celebrated counselor in the most revered Hindu text called as Mahabharata
• He talks at large about the teachings of Lord Krishna in his write-up titled "Psychotherapy in the time of the Vedas"
• Many celebrities and research scholars have come up and talked about the mental health awareness and issues related to it in various public forums

New Delhi, July 28, 2017: The Hindu epic Mahabharata is a source pointing back to earliest findings of psychiatric dimensions and offers many answers, says Dr. KK Aggarwal, President of India Medical Association (IMA).

"Lord Krishna was the first and the most celebrated counselor in the history of events", quotes Dr. KK Aggarwal in his write-up for The Equator Line magazine's latest issue 'Cobwebs Inside Us', which deals with mental health. It mentions how a brilliant warrior once overcame his dilemma and conquered the infamous battle of Mahabharata, with the help of the teachings of Lord Krishna. His teachings are all accumulated in the 700 verses worth of scripture, popularly known as Bhagavad Gita.

At a time when there were no psych drugs or mental-health professionals, the Sanskrit epic seems to have offered a few answers to ancient Indians, he says in his write-up titled "Psychotherapy in the time of the Vedas".

According to Dr. KK Aggarwal during the times of Vedic institutions, the antidepressants did not exist but it was a time when "bucolic environment – woods running along the river banks, deer prancing around, peacocks strutting close to the courtyard – had its own way of healing the bruised mind".

He further commented on the medical treatments in today's time differ from people to people, there is an assortment of drugs that nourishes the mental health; but during the ancient time, the Vedic approach to mental health was focused on controlling the mind, intellect, and ego.

"Lord Shiva presents a very Vedic way of anger management. Whenever you are filled with resentment, store the negative thoughts in your throat. After some time, think about the issue at hand with a cool mind," he writes.

In the article 'Of the mind and its maladies', AIIMS psychiatrists Dr Rajesh Sagar and Dr Ananya Mahapatra write: "The future demands scaling up of a wide variety of interventions, ranging from public awareness, early identification, treatment of acute illness, family education, long-term care, rehabilitation, reintegration into society, ensuring of human rights of the ill persons, and efforts to reduce the prevalent stigma and discrimination against these patients."

Among other contributors to the edition- psychiatrist Dr. Sanjay Chugh, former G B Pant Hospital CMO Dr. Reshma Hingorani, psychologist Pallav Bonerjee and Bollywood scriptwriter Sumeet Panigrahi.

-Prepared by Nivedita Motwani. Twitter @Mind_Makeup

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