Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology

Complementary medicine in antidepressant treatment

Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology 2013; 23: Supplement S2-S3
Read: 615 Published: 21 March 2021

In recent decades, many scientific discoveries have made great contributions in the advancement of medicine and psychiatry. This is mostly expressed in the treatment of various forms of depressive disorders. The synthesis of very high quality, antidepressants that are significantly improved treatment options for depressed patients. However, evidence based medicine after big bliss faced a lot of disappointments and attitude that some natural drugs were unnecessary thrown out of use step by step came along. On the other hand, more and more scientific evidence on the effectiveness of natural remedies to treat depression, a large number of patients with natural herbal medicines used in the just treatment of various psychiatric disorders, including depression. Numerous controlled clinical trials showed bigger effectiveness of natural psychoactive drugs comparing to placebo and equal effectiveness comparing to some other psychoactive chemical substances. They showed indisputable effect, good tolerance, known mechanism of action and active substance and very rare side effects so they can be used in every day practice and treatment of depression. And around the world there are more psychiatrists who complementary medicine perceived as acceptable and complementary, and less of those who have excluded it. There are an increasing number of psychiatrists who advise patients and prescribe antidepressants and other natural methods of complementary medicine, including various forms of massage, aromatic baths, yoga, spirituality, acupuncture, etc. Com plementary medicine should not be considered as an alternative but should be wisely used to treat depression and other mental disorders wherever it is possible and whenever it is based on scientific evidence. There is strong scientific evidence that the preparations of St. John’s wort (hypericum perforatum), omega 3 fatty acids, ginkgo bilobae etc. undoubtedly help in the treatment of depressive disorders. In some countries, the official doctors and complementary medicine work closely and supplemented, all for the purpose of better treatment. Due to the growing public interest in complementary medicine and their increasing use in the treatment it is necessary that doctors not only know, but also properly prescribe them and advise. We recommend methods of complementary medicine that have been proven safe, thoroughly studied, and their effects are scientifically validated. They are not a substitute for standard psychoactive drugs neither their appropriate application diminished the seriousness of the treatment of mental disorders. They should be prescribed with caution to persons suffering from mental disorders who do not like or do not accept the “chemical” medicines. It is necessary to continue research and fully clarify the mechanism of action and effectiveness of methods of complementary medicine. The aim of this paper is to encourage reşection on the meaning of complementary medicines in the treatment of depression and attempt to prevent their throwing into oblivion whenever justified and based on scientific facts.
 

EISSN 2475-0581