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

• Published in: Frontiers in psychology Vol. 14; p. 1075060
• Main Authors: Bhargav, Hemant, Eiman, Najla, Jasti, Nishitha, More, Pooja, Kumar, Vinod, Holla, Bharath, Arasappa, Rashmi, Rao, Naren P, Varambally, Shivarama, Gangadhar, B N, Keshavan, Matcheri S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 01-02-2023
• Subjects: cross-sectional; experimental study; Guna; mental attributes; psychiatric disorders; Psychology; yoga-based personality; yoga-based personality; cross-sectional; experimental study; Guna; mental attributes; psychiatric disorders
• ISSN: 1664-1078; 1664-1078
• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1075060

Yoga philosophy includes the theory of
(three mental traits):
(signifies a tendency to 'goodness'),
(tendency towards 'activity'), and
(tendency towards "inertia"). This cross-sectional study aimed to understand the differences in the expression of
in patients suffering from major psychiatric disorders (
 = 113, 40 females) and age-gender-education-matched healthy controls (HCs;
 = 113, 40 females). Patients were diagnosed by a psychiatrist using DSM 5 criteria and suffered from the following disorders: depression (
 = 30), schizophrenia (SCZ;
 = 28), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD;
 = 23), anxiety (
 = 16), and bipolar affective disorder (BPAD;
 = 16).
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
scores between HCs and patients, and between patients with different diagnoses. A two-tailed Pearson correlation was performed between the
and psychometric scales. Results revealed that HCs had significantly higher
traits as compared to patients (except those with OCD). Each psychiatric diagnosis also showed a specific
configuration: (1) Anxiety disorders and OCD: High
, low
; (2) Depression: High
, low
; (3) Psychotic disorders (SCZ/BPAD): High
, low
. Significant positive correlations were observed between
traits and anxiety/OC/positive psychotic symptoms, negative psychotic symptoms and
traits, and
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
.