ABSTRACT
The treatment of mood and anxiety disorders with botanical medicine goes back to antiquity, with various cultures applying energetic models such as humoral medicine or traditional Chinese medicine models to prescribe a range of plant-based medicines.1,2 Until recently, understanding of depression and anxiety was rudimentary, with such conditions classied broadly as “melancholia” or “hysteria.”3 In present times, use of herbal medicine and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is prevalent among sufferers of mood and anxiety disorders. Data from a nationally representative sample of 2055 people interviewed during 1997-1998 revealed that 57% of those with anxiety attacks and 54% of those with severe depression reported using CAM therapies during the previous 12 months to treat their disorder.4 Twenty percent of the sample with anxiety and 19% of those with severe depression visited a CAM practitioner for treatment during the year. Interviews of 82 psychiatric North American inpatients hospitalized for acute care for various psychiatric disorders revealed that 63% had used one or more CAM modalities within the previous 12 months.5 The most frequently used CAM intervention was herbal medicine, with 44% using the therapy during the previous 12 months. Most did not discuss this use with their medical practitioner. A study involving 52 patients from an Australian psychiatric teaching hospital revealed that 52% used CAM treatments over the preceding 18 months.6 Eighty-ve CAM treatments were used by the sample, and 37% did not inform their medical practitioner of this use. Research on CAM or herbal medicine in psychiatry is still in its infancy, although there has been a 50% increase
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 289 Botanical Anxiolytics and Anxiety ........................................................................292 Botanical Antidepressants and Depression ............................................................292 Botanical Hypnotics and Insomnia ........................................................................296 Current Clinical Evidence ......................................................................................296 Future Research .....................................................................................................300 References .............................................................................................................. 301
in the literature over the last quinquennium in the combined area of herbal medicine and psychiatry.7 A Medline search in late 2009 of controlled and uncontrolled clinical trials using the terms “Complementary Medicine” AND “Depression” OR “Anxiety” OR “Psychiatry” revealed 1663 hits. This compares with 10828 hits when the search term “Antidepressants” OR “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy” was substituted for “Complementary Medicine.”
