UNANI MEDICINE: BRIDGING TRADITIONAL WISDOM WITH CONTEMPORARY SCIENTIFIC VALIDATION FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND OCCUPATIONAL WELL-BEING: A REVIEW

Unani medicine which derives from Greco-Arabic medical knowledge provides a complete system to study mental health through its three core concepts which include Mizāj (Temperament), Akhlāṭ (Humors) and Asbāb Sitta Ḍarūriyya (Six Essential Factors). This comprehensive review examines how classical Unani psychiatric methods merge with contemporary scientific evidence which supports mental disorder treatments for Iztirāb-e-Nafsānī (Anxiety) and Mālānkhūliyā (Melancholia) to demonstrate their impact on workplace health. A dual-layered methodology encompassing systematic literature search across multiple databases and diagnostic framework analysis was employed. The review presents evidence from relevant studies which appeared between 2011 and 2026 alongside classical sources including Ibn Sīnā’s Al-Qānūn fī al-Ṭibb and Al-Rāzī’s works. Scientists have discovered neurobiological associations which link Unani medical principles of Tanqiya’-i-Dimāgh (Brain Cleansing) to present-day scientific knowledge about oxidative stress and neuroinflammation and HPA-axis dysregulation. The pharmacological evaluation of Muqawwī-i-Dimāgh (Cerebral Tonics) which includes Brāhmī (Bacopa monnieri) and Ustukhudūs (Lavandula stoechas) shows their potential to reduce anxiety and protect the nervous system. The Mizāj-based diagnostic system which uses Ajnās ‘Ashara (ten identifying features of temperament) enables doctors to determine individual psychiatric risk levels. The application of Asbāb Sitta Ḍarūriyya modifications in the prevention of burnout at the workplace is of practical significance. However, the limitations in methodology, such as the absence of standardized biomarker studies and the paucity of evidence from Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) in the current study, require rigorous future work to provide evidence-based integration of Unani psychiatry into the contemporary mental health care system.