A Systemic Review on Chittodvega and its Management

Abstract

Chittodvega is manas roga and develops due to  vitiation of raja and tama along with vata and pitta. It can  be defined as a chitta (mind) + udvega (anxiety) i.e.  „Anxious status of a mind”. It can be correlated with  generalized anxiety disorder on the basis of etymology of  chittodvega, type of psychological disorder and  symptomology. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a  chronic anxiety disorder and characterized by persistent,  excessive, and/or unrealistic worry associated with muscle  tension, impaired concentration, autonomic arousal, feeling  "on edge" or restless, and insomnia. As any separate  description of chittodvega is not clearly mentioned in  Ayurvedic classics so common etiological factors i.e.  asatmyendriyarthasamyoga, pragyaparadha and parinama  can be considered as nidana of chittodvega. Poorvarupa of unmada can be considered as the  lakshana of chittodvega which are shirah shoonyata, udvega, dhyana, hridgraha, ayasa,  unmattchittatvam, which is similar to excessive anxiety and worry, restlessness, being easily  fatigued, difficulty in concentration, irritability, sleep disturbance etc found in GAD.Clinical  trials have shown that anxiolytic drugs alone have limited long-term efficacy. Moreover, they  often have adverse side effects including dependency, drowsiness, impaired cognition and  memory and sexual dysfunction. The treatment procedure described are daivavyapasraya  (divine therapy), yuktivyapasraya (rational therapy) and sattvavajaya (mental therapy) etc. So  the present study deals with systemic review of chittodvega from all the classics of  Ayurveda and its management.