Review Article
Year: 2020 | Month: October-December | Volume: 5 | Issue: 4 | Pages: 343-354
Alcohol and Alcoholism in India; A Historical Review
Saji Joseph1, Hemalatha K2
1PhD Scholar, 2Associate Professor,
Department of Social Work, Christ University, Bangalore, India-560029.
Corresponding Author: Saji Joseph
ABSTRACT
Ancient Sanskrit texts give sufficient evidence on the presence of alcohol in ancient India. As alcohol, including distilled liquors, was widely available, overindulgence was part of the problems of the ancient societies. Exploring history redefines the notion of seeing the evil of alcoholism as entirely an import from western culture. Alcoholism and related problems were existing throughout the history of India. There were three distinct approaches used to tackle alcoholism; moral-suasion, legal-suasion, and medicine. Connections can be established between some of the current evidence-based approaches with some of the practices from ancient India. The earliest medical explanation on alcoholism can be seen in Charaka Samhita, an Ayurveda text compiled before the second century AD. Ayurveda, one of the traditional Indian system of medicine, still remains an unexplored treatment for alcohol other substance use disorders. This historical review brings clinically relevant insights for the present-day addiction professionals and researchers.
Keywords: History, Alcoholism treatment, Alcohol use disorder.