Description

Phobia means fear. Generally speaking, a ‘phobia’ refers to the fear of any object or situation. The object or situation may or may not necessarily pose danger but the fear is real and affects the person to an extent that there is anxiety and avoidance by the person. Phobia can be short term or long lasting and cause strong physical and psychological reactions. In Ayurveda, Unmada covers a wide range of symptoms and is synonymous with insanity, mania etc. Phobia too, is considered under the gamut of diseases/conditions covered under Unmada or Bhayaja Unmada. According to Ayurveda, sadhaka pitta is deemed to be essentially responsible for mental functioning and emotions. It is based in hridaya (heart/mind) and responsible for the feelings of fear (bhaya), courage, valor (shourya), anger (krodha), happiness (harsha) and intelligence (buddhi). Hyperactivity of rajas (action) or tamas (inertia) causes the mind to lose its balance and affects the tridosha (vata, pitta, kapha) resulting in mental disorders that can manifest as a phobia.