Astrology and wellbeing

In 2022, clinical psychologists at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru — India’s premier mental-health institute — published a scoping review in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry examining belief in astrology and what the authors termed fortune-telling addiction. The review described a pattern in which excessive consultation, repeated paid sessions, and compulsive checking of forecasts were associated with distress, anxiety, depressive states, and financial strain. The authors were explicit that belief in astrology is common and culturally legitimate in India; the concern was excessive engagement, not engagement itself.

Astrology is consumed in two broadly different ways. The reflective mode: a reader looks at a chart, finds frameworks for understanding themselves, and goes back to living. The compulsive mode: a reader consults repeatedly, decides important questions on the basis of forecasts, accumulates dosha anxieties, and progressively offloads agency to external authority. The reflective mode coexists with normal rational decision-making. The compulsive mode is what the NIMHANS researchers studied.

The editorial choices on SahiKundli are designed to support the reflective mode. We frame interpretations as patterns and possibilities rather than as deterministic forecasts. We are explicit about the epistemic status of every system we use, and we are honest about uncertainty when birth time is approximate. Where we charge for depth — longer reports, detailed analysis — the pricing is transparent up front. We try to earn engagement through clarity rather than through urgency.

If you check your chart when curious, find something useful, and move on, you are using SahiKundli the way it was built. If you find yourself consulting compulsively, or letting forecasted periods make important decisions for you, the NIMHANS work suggests it may be worth examining the role astrology plays in your daily life. We mention this explicitly rather than burying it because we think it’s part of being honest about what kind of tool this is.