The Ayurvedic concept of Satva indicates mental strength. Literally, Satva is a synonym for the mind. In the context of an assessment of the patient's expected strength and ability for an invasive treatments like panchakarma or surgery, the term satva indicates mental strength. Ayurvedic Vaidya is expected to analyze satva of the patient before starting the treatment, to estimate the success of treatment. Three shades of satva are specified as best (pravar/uttam), moderate (madhyam), and low (avara/hina). It is a directive not to perform strong invasive procedures on patients of hina satva because of the high probability of losing the patient which in turn proves detrimental to the success of the vaidya. Identification of a patient's ability to cope up with the particular stress is important for a vaidya.
However, I could not find any specific guideline, methodology, or protocol to enhance the satva of an individual. Like physical strength (sharirbala -yuktikrita), it is possible to strengthen the satva by practicing certain mental exercises in the form of instructions or mind-games. Similarly, counseling (ashvasan chikista) is valued as a non-pharmacological treatment method, yet methodology of ashvasana in various psychological and psychiatric illnesses is seldom seen in the Samhitas.
One has to perform careful scrutiny of relevant verses on the above topics from The Three Great Treatises (Brihat-trayee) to collect meaningful terms and co-relate those with new terms from Psychology. The knowledge of psychometry tools, measurement scales, and methods of patient analysis would be useful to uncover Ayurvedic understanding of treatment principles in psychological diseases. Researches in this direction are highly likely to provide proof of concept and evidence for Ayurvedic treatments.
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