Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 16, 2026

Behavioral and Network Pharmacology-Based Analyses for the Traditional Mongolian Medicine Zadi-5 in a Rat Model of Depression
Published on: February 24, 2023
Appropriating depression: biomedicalizing Ayurvedic psychiatry in Kerala, India
1Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. claudia.lang@ethnologie.lmu.de
Abstract:
The appropriation of biopsychiatric concepts such as depression, and their reframing in clinical and academic discussions, are important parts of the revitalization of bhūt vidyā as Ayurvedic psychiatry. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Kerala from 2009 to 2011, in this article we explore the process and the controversies of translating and correlating the biopsychiatric notion of depression, as a discrete and biologic pathological entity, with Ayurvedic notions of body, mind, and mental distress. Depression, conceptualized as a neurochemical imbalance, is, we argue, relatively compatible with Ayurvedic notions of a fluent body and mind, and so is easier to correlate with Ayurvedic concepts of do[Formula: see text]ic imbalances and blockages of channels than the former psychoanalytically dominated model of depression. The appropriation of depression within Ayurvedic discourse challenges the dichotomy of universal and culture-specific disorders, and this has a significant impact on mental health programs in Kerala.
Related Concept Videos
Depressive Disorders: Etiology
Biological Factors in Depression
Biological predispositions significantly influence the risk of developing depressive disorders. Genetic studies highlight the role of variations in the serotonin transporter...
Depression: Overview
Long-term Depression
Calcium Ion Concentration Mechanism
If over time, all...
Long-term Depression
Theoretical Approaches to Psychological Disorder
Biological approach
The biological approach posits that internal, organic factors are the primary causes of such disorders. This perspective emphasizes brain structure and function, genetic predispositions, and neurotransmitter imbalances. For example, schizophrenia has been associated with both genetic...
Electroconvulsive Therapy
