Abstract

USES OF MEDICINAL PLANTS IN THE TREATMENT OF MENTAL ILLNESSES IN UDHAMPUR DISTRICT, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA

L. R. Dangwal, T. Lal and P. Uniyal*

ABSTRACT

In India, many medicinal plants are described and are widely utilized by traditional practitioners for curing and controlling various mental illnesses since prehistoric time. Due to remoteness of the area from modern healthcare facilities, the local people of Udhampur district, Jammu and Kashmir, rely on their traditional knowledge for healthcare purpose. Extensive survey was carried out interviewing local inhabitants, medicinal practitioners, tribal people and shepherds, investigating traditionally-used medicinal plants to cure various mental health-related problems in the study area. The present communication enlisted 26 medicinal plant species from 26 different genera, belonging to 24 families, traditionally used for the treatment of mental illnesses in Udhampur district. Out of these 26 plant species, 14 were herbs, 6 were shrubs and 6 belonged to „trees‟ category. The plant parts used for the preparation of herbal remedies were rhizome, root, leaf, flower, milky latex, seed and fruit; in some cases, the whole plant was utilized. The listed plant species were used to cure different mental ailments, such as Alzheimer‟s disease, anxiety, anorexia, dementia, epilepsy, headache, hemicrania, insanity, insomnia, leprosy, migraine, psychoneurosis and psychosis. Also, some herbal remedies of these plants were administered for the enhancement of memory, inducing sleep, comforting the mood, as memory-booster, enhancing intellectual weak spot of memory, and calming the mind. Authors suggest more ethnomedicinal investigations and pharmacological studies on these medicinal plants. Cultivation of commercially-beneficial medicinal plants will create opportunities and employment for the local inhabitants of the district.

Keywords: Ethnomedicinal; Plants; Mental cure; Jammu and Kashmir; Udhampur; Psychomedicinal.