Ayurvedic Management of Alcohol-Induced Psychotic Disorder- A Case Report

Alcohol-induced psychotic disorder (AIPD) is a severe mental disorder with lifetime prevalence of 0.5%. It appears to be a complication of the Alcohol use disorder and marked by extremely high rehospitalization rate, suggesting a chronic course with worse prognosis. It was noted that the number of diagnosed cases of AIPD are escalating and out of which 68% are at the risk of re-admission, 5–30% at the risk of developing schizophrenia and shows suicidal ideations. Perversion in Manas, Budhi, Samjna-jnana, Smrti, Bhakti, Seela, Cheshta and Achara leads to Unmada. Since these Vibhramas are present in AIPD, it may be considered as Unmada A42-year -old male patient was admitted to the IPD in July 2024, Complaints of increased alcohol consumption, hearing voices, seeing indistinct figures, repeated suicidal thoughts, irrational fear and reduced sleep in the past 6 months. The condition was diagnosed as Pitta Unmada with Vata-Kaphanubandha. Management was based on dosha involvement and appropriate sodhana and samana therapies were administered. Twenty-one days of management included shirodhara, thalam, shirolepa (thalapothichil), nasya, abhyanga and siropichu. Symptom severity was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale, Revised (CIWA-Ar), which showed a marked reduction in scores from 94 to 30 and 32 to 0 respectively, following the treatment. This case underscores the significance of Ayurvedic interventions in the management of AIPD.