Vedic description of insomnia: Insomnia maybe a symptom of suicidal ideation (Part 2) |

                                Profession
                                
Mobile
                                        
                                Speciality
                                
                                Medical Council
                                
                                Registration Number

Editorial

Vedic description of insomnia: Insomnia maybe a symptom of suicidal ideation (Part 2)

Dr KK Aggarwal, 01 August 2019
2063 Views

#Multispeciality

There can be several reasons for insomnia.The best description of the causes and treatment of insomnia comes from Vidura Niti, a dialogue (samvad) between Vidura and Dhritarashtra.In the text, King Dhritarashtra said: “O Vidura, Sanjaya has come back. He has gone away after rebuking me. Tomorrow he will deliver, in the midst of the court, Ajatashatru’s message. I have not been able today to ascertain what the message is of the Kuru hero. Therefore, my body is burning, and that h...

To read the complete article ,

create a free account.

Create Account

Already registered?

Comments

Earn 5 points for every comment you post

Dr V K Chhabra

Great about indomnia

REPLY

02 August - 00:33hrs | View Replies()
Dr Girish Pathak

Insomnia : Is it not a mental problem

REPLY

01 August - 23:47hrs | View Replies()
Dr Vijayalakshmi Subramanian

Brilliant analysis of causes of insomnia

REPLY

01 August - 20:21hrs | View Replies()
Dr hirji vaghadia

Good. Information.

REPLY

01 August - 19:12hrs | View Replies()
Dr Swathi Parameswaran potti

Excellent guidance Will greatly help in our practice for patients and in our daily life also

REPLY

01 August - 17:25hrs | View Replies()
Dr Kodati Vijayalakshmi

informative , educative and future path laid as guidelines.

REPLY

01 August - 11:57hrs | View Replies()
Dr Ashok Sood

enlightened, thanks sir

REPLY

01 August - 11:52hrs | View Replies()
Dr Dhirubhai Bhatt

Well description, proud of our ved and sanskrity ,thanks for enlightening us

REPLY

01 August - 11:21hrs | View Replies()
Dr Seshan Swaminathan

Excellent ,tlmely message for all.

REPLY

01 August - 10:49hrs | View Replies()
Dr Raviteja Innamuri

The wisdom of the old text beautifully put into words by the the stalwart himself. Thank you sir!

REPLY

01 August - 10:28hrs | View Replies()
Dr Srinivasan Balasubramanyam

Trueand excellent

REPLY

01 August - 10:10hrs | View Replies()
Dr Mcs Hospital

Better avoid quots from religious books..... Let our description be scientific always

REPLY

01 August - 09:53hrs | View Replies()
Dr Deepak Ranade

Sir, please accept good advice wherever it is available. The quoted lines are quite true and not preaching any religion.

01 August - 09:53 hrs
Dr sivalingam mayilvahanan

A person who has never had wealth , never gets insomnia !

REPLY

01 August - 09:20hrs | View Replies()
Dr Bhuraj Sane

Superb descriptions

REPLY

01 August - 08:20hrs | View Replies()
Dr Ramakant Upadhyaya

Very useful article👍

REPLY

01 August - 07:54hrs | View Replies()
Dr Ashwani Juneja

Beautifully explained. Please elaborate more on Vidur neeti.

REPLY

01 August - 07:32hrs | View Replies()
Dr Ashwani Bansal

well explained

REPLY

01 August - 07:02hrs | View Replies()
Dr Gaurang Majmundar

More elaboration is required on sutras from vidurniti and chanakya niti This one is a day to day problem and requires a more detailed treatment without using drugs

REPLY

01 August - 06:04hrs | View Replies()
Dr Rajesh Chhabra

Follow simple principles of Ayurveda, which initself is a vast topic.

01 August - 06:04 hrs

Recommended CME's

Good Pharmacy Practices:Certification Course Modules

Pharmacists

Management of Fungal Infections

Dermatology

A comprehensive course on dengue-screening, diagnosis and management

Infectious Diseases

Allergic Rhinitis: Approach to Day to Day Management

Allergy & Clinical Immumology

NUTRITIONAL STRATEGY IN DIABETES MANAGEMENT DURING COVID-19

Diabetes & Endocrinology

Topical Antibiotic in the Management of Skin and Soft Tissue Infection

Dermatology

Trending Articles

Editorial

Vedic description of insomnia: Insomnia maybe a symptom of suicidal ideation (Part 2)

Dr KK Aggarwal, 01 August 2019
#Multispeciality

There can be several reasons for insomnia.

The best description of the causes and treatment of insomnia comes from Vidura Niti, a dialogue (samvad) between Vidura and Dhritarashtra.

In the text, King Dhritarashtra said: “O Vidura, Sanjaya has come back. He has gone away after rebuking me. Tomorrow he will deliver, in the midst of the court, Ajatashatru’s message. I have not been able today to ascertain what the message is of the Kuru hero. Therefore, my body is burning, and that has produced sleeplessness. Tell us what may be good for a person that is sleepless and burning.”

He says, “My body is burning, and that has produced sleeplessness”; this is a typical description of anxiety and related sleeplessness and holds true even today.

Vidura said: “Sleeplessness overtakes thief, a lustful person, him that has lost all his wealth, him that has failed to achieve success, and him also that is weak and has been attacked by a strong person.”

He therefore described five basic reasons for insomnia and these are true, even in today’s science. No new cause has been added in this list of stress-induced insomnia.

The situations are:

A thief
A lustful person
A person who has lost all his wealth
A person who has failed to achieve success
A person who is weak and has been attacked by a strong person.

Insomnia has been described as a symptom of suicidal ideation and hence, may be a useful indicator of a mind that is stressed and harboring suicidal thoughts.

A person who has lost all his wealth may be desperate. Hopelessness is an internal motivation for attempted suicide. Perhaps this was the case with VG Siddhartha, the founder of Café Coffee Day. His body was recovered from the Nethravathi River near Mangaluru yesterday.

Ayurveda describes sleep as an aggravation of vata & pitta dosha. The number one cause of the same is mental tension, suppressed feelings & acute bitterness. The above five situations again hold true to this effect.

In Allopathy, the other causes of insomnia mentioned are constipation, dyspepsia, excessive intake of tea, coffee & alcohol and environmental factors such as excessive cold, heat or change of environment. These are in most of the situations the effect and not the cause of insomnia.

Known factors associated with insomnia include:

Changes in sleep timing: Shift work or jet lag.
Medical conditions: Respiratory disease (particularly asthma), cardiovascular disease (such as congestive heart failure), endocrine disease, gastrointestinal disease (reflux), pregnancy, sleep apnea, or neurologic disease.
Drugs: Stimulants (diet pills or amphetamines), selected antidepressants, corticosteroids, diuretics, seizure medicines, and some blood pressure medications.
Psychiatric problems: Anxiety, mood, or thought disorders.
Stressful situations: Major life events, employment concerns, or financial stress.
Substance abuse: Stimulant abuse or withdrawal from alcohol or sedative-hypnotics.
Lifestyle choices: Drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, drinking caffeine-containing beverages (coffee, tea, or soft-drinks).

The treatment of insomnia involves either suppressing the emotions with drugs or root level eradication of stress with proper counseling. Bhagwad Gita, Chanakya Niti and Vidur Niti are the counseling books of ancient era and contain texts and sutras that are relevant even true today.

Here are some of the sutras from Vidura Niti:

“Do not inhabit a country where you are not respected, cannot earn your livelihood, have no friends, or cannot acquire knowledge. (1.8)
Do not reveal what you have thought upon doing, but by wise counsel keep it secret, being determined to carry it into execution. (2.7)
Consider again and again the following: the right time, the right friends, the right place, the right means of income, the right ways of spending, and from whom you derive your power. (4.18)
A wise man should not reveal his loss of wealth, the vexation of his mind, the misconduct of his own wife, base words spoken by others, and disgrace that has befallen him. (7.1)”

One of the answers to insomnia is learning meditation as described in Patanjali Yoga Sutra or Yoga Vashistha. It is based on the principle of concentrating on the present, which shifts the inner environment from sympathetic to para-sympathetic mode. 20 minutes of meditation morning and evening provides the same biochemical benefit as gathered from 7 hours of deep sleep.

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

President Elect Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania (CMAAO)

Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Past National President IMA

Instance ID Token

Needs Permission

Coronavirus Live Count Map India

COVID-19 Vaccine Updates

Coronavirus Protocols

To read the complete article ,

create a free account.

Comments

Good Pharmacy Practices:Certification Course Modules

Management of Fungal Infections

A comprehensive course on dengue-screening, diagnosis and management

Allergic Rhinitis: Approach to Day to Day Management

NUTRITIONAL STRATEGY IN DIABETES MANAGEMENT DURING COVID-19

Topical Antibiotic in the Management of Skin and Soft Tissue Infection

Good Pharmacy Practices:Certification Course Modules

Management of Fungal Infections

A comprehensive course on dengue-screening, diagnosis and management

Allergic Rhinitis: Approach to Day to Day Management

NUTRITIONAL STRATEGY IN DIABETES MANAGEMENT DURING COVID-19

Topical Antibiotic in the Management of Skin and Soft Tissue Infection

Recommendations

Trending Articles

eMediNexus

Give us your email address and we'll send our best articles.

Instance ID Token

Needs Permission

Update Your Profile

LOGIN

SIGN UP

SEARCH

Coronavirus Live Count Map India

COVID-19 Vaccine Updates

Coronavirus Protocols

Email This

To read the complete article ,

create a free account.

Comments

Good Pharmacy Practices:Certification Course Modules

Management of Fungal Infections

A comprehensive course on dengue-screening, diagnosis and management

Allergic Rhinitis: Approach to Day to Day Management

NUTRITIONAL STRATEGY IN DIABETES MANAGEMENT DURING COVID-19

Topical Antibiotic in the Management of Skin and Soft Tissue Infection

Good Pharmacy Practices:Certification Course Modules

Management of Fungal Infections

A comprehensive course on dengue-screening, diagnosis and management

Allergic Rhinitis: Approach to Day to Day Management

NUTRITIONAL STRATEGY IN DIABETES MANAGEMENT DURING COVID-19

Topical Antibiotic in the Management of Skin and Soft Tissue Infection

Recommendations

Trending Articles

eMediNexus

Give us your email address and we'll send our best articles.