Are you crazy: An etymological and exegetical survey in the historicity of insanity (unmada) in Hindu philosophical and religious thought

What are some of the common themes and ideas about insanity that can be found in both a Western European context and an Eastern Indian context? Using an etymological and exegetical approach to the Hindu Ayurveda and the classical Indian medical treatise the Caraka Sam&dotbelow;hita one is able to apply certain twenty-first Century Western psychological perspectives in how insanity was and is viewed in Indian culture.; The words used in English and Sanskrit to describe the insane and insanity both share the same notion of an insane person lacking wholeness. Furthermore, the insane are not revered in either culture, going as far as the insane being considered an inauspicious symbol in Hinduism. A Brahman is not even supposed to go near an insane individual lest they suffer the same insanity.; Looking into several varieties of Western psychotherapies and their notion of healing as compared to the Indian notion of healing insanity one is able to draw the conclusion that while both societies share a great deal in common in their treatment of the insane, both have very different expected outcomes.; Finally, the idea of power relations in both a Western and Eastern context is considered and the idealized notion of Orientocentrism is called into question.