There’s increasing evidence to show that yoga therapy works as an anti-depressant for unhappy minds

Asanas that chase away the blues

There’s increasing evidence to show that yoga therapy works as an anti-depressant for unhappy minds

    Malathy was overwhelmed with joy when her 64-year-old f at h e r re c e n t ly bought a dress for her baby son. Grandparents dote on grandchildren, but this grandfather was different. He had forgotten his grandson completely.
    Malathy’s father had symptoms of depression mimicking dementia. He did not want to take strong antidepressant medicines. Psychiatrists at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans) offered him a combination of yoga and meditative therapy along with mild doses of anti-depressants. After four weeks, he seemed a changed man; the acutely sad grandfather became warm and sociable.
    What worked? While medicines played a role, yoga enhanced their effect, says Dr B N Gangadhar, programme director at Nimhans’ Advanced Center for Yoga. “The effect of yoga on mental health is not anecdotal anymore. There is evidence that yogasanas impact electrical and chemical transmissions in the brain,” he says.
    Among the many clinical researches being conducted at Nimhans, one involved inmates of an old-age home who were exposed to six months of yoga therapy. MRI scans taken before and after showed an increase in the size of the hippocampus, the brain’s memory index. “It was larger than before because the grey matter had increased. The results will be published in a scientific journal shortly,” adds Gangadhar. The hippocampus is vulnerable to stress and atrophy is seen in patients of schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe depression. “Yoga acts as an antidepressant,” he says.
    Delhi-based Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences has also started offering yoga therapy to patients with mild to moderate schizophrenia and depression. “We’ve found the functioning of brain neurotransmitters becomes more synchronized with yoga therapy. It helps release chemicals like endorphins and controls release of stress hormones like cortisol,” says psychiatrist Dr Nimesh Desai, who heads IHBAS.
    But it may not be suitable for all mental illnesses. “We recommend against using it for obsessive compulsive disorder, early onset of schizophrenia, severe depression and severe anxiety. It can complicate their symptoms. It is best suited for mild to moderate depression, anxiety and schizophrenia under medical supervision,” says Desai.
    A 2012 analysis on ‘Yoga Therapy for Schizophrenia’ by experts at Nimhans, published in the International Journal of Yoga, has some interesting inferences. Specific yoga packages for patients with psychosis based on the Panchakosha model were found useful. These include some asanas and pranayam but not meditative practices. Doctors have found meditation can worsen or provoke psychosis in schizophrenics.
    The analysis concluded that yoga therapy reduced psychotic symptoms and depression, improved cognition and quality of life, and produced neurobiological changes such as increased oxytocin levels, a powerful hormone associated with love and communication.
PACKAGING IT Nimhans’ yoga package culled from traditional texts
They chose asanas recommended for improving cognitive abilities
Compilation sent to 12 yoga experts, then tried on elderly volunteers before clinical trials on patients
Package has 8-10 asanas and pranayam. Two of the most useful are bhujangasana and trataka