Do you know that planets, their nature and their positions play a vital role in keeping our mind and body healthy and fit? When these planets feel distressed, it has an equally intense impact on our mental and physical health. While physical abnormalities can be seen to be appropriately treated, mental illnesses are kept under wraps, mostly due to the social stigma attached it. This makes diagnosing and treating such illnesses more complex and critical.

Knowing the complexities, wouldn’t it be better if we were able to gauge the state of our mental health, beforehand? Vedic Astrology provides us a solution in this direction, where we can know if there could be a mental disorder that we should be cautious of, thus, allowing us to take proper precautions and explore effective treatments to curb the ailment.

The planets that broadly speak for your mental health are Moon and Mercury. In addition, Jupiter also influences your mental abilities. These planets are closely associated with your mental well-being. In their good state, they keep our mind healthy and in their bad state, they cause mental abnormities.

Moon signifies mind, Mercury represents memory and communication and Jupiter is the lord of knowledge and wisdom, and when they get afflicted, people face mental stress, anxiety, depression and other severe mental disorders.

A mental illness arises when:

• The planets - Moon, Mercury or Jupiter is afflicted.
• The 5th house in the birth chart, which signifies mental intelligence and creativity, is afflicted.
• Rahu is placed in ascendant house in your birth chart or having an aspect on Moon, in some way or the other.

If your Moon is under the bad influence? An afflicted Moon retards the mental development of the native and cause anxiety and depression.

Moon governs our mind, emotions and behavior. It is the closest celestial body to Earth and hence, it has a deep influence on our life. It is the gravitational force of the Moon that causes tides in the ocean, which is a subtle indicator of our emotional highs and lows.

A positively placed Moon in your birth chart indicates mental and emotional strength. You will have good concentration powers and creative abilities with a well-placed Moon. But, if the same Moon is weak in your birth chart, it will snatch away your thinking abilities and drain you off your mental strength.

• When any malefic planet (Rahu, Ketu or Saturn) aspect the Moon, you will face some mental troubles
• If Moon is positioned in any of the malefic houses (i.e. 6th, 8th or 12th house), it can cause mental abnormalities

Rahu and Ketu are imaginary planets, and thus signifies illusion and confusion. If they are in conjunction with Moon in your birth chart or if it is aspecting Moon, in some way or the other, you are likely to develop mental illness, which can cause delusions, unease, absurdity, phobias and problems like Schizophrenia or Insomnia. If afflicted by Saturn, Moon’s negative influence can increase the stress levels, leading to acute depression. You will always be surrounded with negative thoughts and become a pessimist, losing the hope and zeal to live life to the fullest.

If your Mercury is under the bad influence? An afflicted Mercury makes the native restless and short-tempered.

According to Vedic Astrology, Mercury signifies sharp memory and great communication skills. In it afflicted state, it will adversely impact these areas, leading to loss of memory, and fanatic tendencies. Such individuals may develop problems like Amnesia and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).

Mercury is afflicted when:

• It is present in the malefic house (6th, 8th or 12th house)
• By the presence of any of the malefic planets (Saturn, Rahu or Ketu)
• When it is in its debilitation sign (i.e. Pisces)

A troubled Mercury makes you eccentric – if this state goes unchecked and amplifies at a later stage, it can severely impact the way you think, process information and conduct yourself. The behavioral issues can further spiral into mental distress which can ruin your day-to-day life, causing unrest in personal and professional life. With so much of mental suffering, people are bound to develop one or more types of mental disorders.

A healthy Mercury also boosts your logical powers and creative skills. When it is afflicted, it takes away your ability to innovate, take rational decisions, thus, causing, nervous breakdowns and emotional outburst.

If your Jupiter is under the bad influence? An afflicted Jupiter takes away your power to think wisely and cause mental turmoil.

The ‘greatest benefactor’ Jupiter signifies knowledge and wisdom. It is the planet of intellect and spirituality. When afflicted, it can lead to lack of concentration, faith and confidence. This results in lower self-confidence, weak intellect and misjudgments – you will never be able to take any wise decision with all these glitches. As you will lose your decisions making capabilities, you might incur financial losses and may also suffer on personal grounds. Too much of all this can make you mentally sick.

Jupiter is afflicted when:

• It is present in the malefic house (6th, 8th or 12th house)
• By the presence of any of the malefic planets (Saturn, Rahu or Ketu)
• When it is in its debilitation sign (i.e. Capricorn)

A malefic Jupiter creates chaos in the mind of an individual. This chaos further creates an underrated tension between sanity, wisdom, rationality, acumen and emotions. When this tension intensifies it leads to mental stress and illnesses. With a disturbed Jupiter in your birth chart, you many never be able to find mental solace.

If your 5th house is under the bad influence? An afflicted 5th house results in absence of analytical capabilities and mental soundness.

The 5th house in your birth chart represents your logical sense, your rationalization skills, mental intelligence, analytical skills and wisdom. An affliction of this house signifies loss of emotional stability, depression, which many extend to mental illness, if not identified at an early stage.

It leads to harsh and unsocial behavior, since you are not able to think straight and have limited control over your emotions. A serious manic depression can also occur, if this house is afflicted by malefic planets, by conjunction or aspect.

Prevention is always better than cure, and when it is about your mental health it would be foolish to take any chances. By now you know that like mental disorders are not incurable, similarly, they are not even undetectable. Vedic Astrology can help you figure out indicators of any mental illness in your birth chart. You can order an in-depth, detailed Birth Chart Analysis Report here, to get answers to all your mental health related queries.