Composition of yoga-philosophy based mental traits (Gunas) in major psychiatric disorders: A trans-diagnostic approach

Frontiers in Psychology

Psychology

Matcheri S. Keshavan¹  Hemant Bhargav²  Najla Eiman²  Nishitha Jasti³  Pooja More³  Shivarama Varambally³  Bharath Holla³  Vinod Kumar³  B.N. Gangadhar³  Naren P. Rao⁴  Rashmi Arasappa⁴ 

[1] Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States;Department of Integrative Medicine, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India;Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India;Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, MA, United States;

关键词: yoga-based personality;    psychiatric disorders;    mental attributes;    Guna;    cross-sectional;    experimental study;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1075060

 received in 2022-10-20, accepted in 2023-01-04,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Yoga philosophy includes the theory of Tri-guna (three mental traits): sattva (signifies a tendency to ‘goodness’), rajas (tendency towards ‘activity’), and tamas (tendency towards “inertia”). This cross-sectional study aimed to understand the differences in the expression of gunas in patients suffering from major psychiatric disorders (n = 113, 40 females) and age-gender-education-matched healthy controls (HCs; n = 113, 40 females). Patients were diagnosed by a psychiatrist using DSM 5 criteria and suffered from the following disorders: depression (n = 30), schizophrenia (SCZ; n = 28), obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD; n = 23), anxiety (n = 16), and bipolar affective disorder (BPAD; n = 16). Tri-gunas were assessed using a validated tool (Vedic Personality Inventory) and symptoms were assessed using standard scales as per the diagnosis. Multi-variate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to assess the differences in guna scores between HCs and patients, and between patients with different diagnoses. A two-tailed Pearson correlation was performed between the gunas and psychometric scales. Results revealed that HCs had significantly higher sattva traits as compared to patients (except those with OCD). Each psychiatric diagnosis also showed a specific guna configuration: (1) Anxiety disorders and OCD: High sattva-rajas, low tamas; (2) Depression: High sattva-tamas, low rajas; (3) Psychotic disorders (SCZ/BPAD): High tamo-rajas, low sattva. Significant positive correlations were observed between rajas traits and anxiety/OC/positive psychotic symptoms, negative psychotic symptoms and tamas traits, and sattva traits and OC symptoms. This finding has clinical implications, both to develop ways of predicting outcomes of psychiatric disorders, as well as to develop psycho-therapeutic and lifestyle interventions targeting the gunas.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Bhargav, Eiman, Jasti, More, Kumar, Holla, Arasappa, Rao, Varambally, Gangadhar and Keshavan.