Alternative treatments in the form of herbal medicine should be used with caution because they may have adverse effects on the body and be harmful if misused. Therefore, when a patient is prescribed herbal medicine, it is essential to ensure that it does not interact with any other medication that the patient is already taking. In any case, herbal medicines should be used with the same respect and care as traditional medication. If all precautions are taken before the patient uses herbal remedies, treating mental health issues with alternative medicine has shown to have positive outcomes (Ekor, 2014).
For example, Apaydin et al. (2016) found that St. John’s wort is superior in performance to placebo when treating mild and moderate depressive symptoms, although the evidence was limited to poor reporting of adverse and rare events. When it comes to the use of saffron in the treatment of depression and anxiety, the plant’s active constituents have shown to possess antidepressant properties that are similar to the qualities of such antidepressants as citalopram or imipramine, although the side effects are less frequently reported (Shafiee et al., 2018). In addition, 5-HTP use has been shown to regulate and improve the levels of serotonin in the brain, which is beneficial for boosting mental health challenges. Because of this, I agree that a patient who wants to avoid taking traditional medication can benefit from saffron use, especially if combined with therapy. However, when prescribing herbal medicine, regardless of its type, it is imperative that the patient is assessed for the risk factors of its use and the potential interactions with other medication.
References
Apaydin, E. A., Maher, A. R., Shanman, R., Booth, M. S., Miles, J. N., Sorbero, M. E., & Hempel, S. (2016). A systematic review of St. John’s wort for major depressive disorder. Systematic Reviews, 5(1), 148.
Ekor M. (2014). The growing use of herbal medicines: issues relating to adverse reactions and challenges in monitoring safety. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 4, 177.
Kaushik, M., Jain, A., Agarwal, P., Joshi, S. D., & Parvez, S. (2020). Role of yoga and meditation as complimentary therapeutic regime for stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders: Utilization of brain waves activity as novel tool. Journal of Evidence-based Integrative Medicine, 25, 2515690X20949451.
Moszeik, E. N., von Oertzen, T., & Runner, K-H. (2020). Effectiveness of a short Yoga Nidra meditation on stress, sleep, and well-being in a large and diverse sample. Current Psychology, 2020.
Shafiee, M., Arekhi, S., Omranzadeh, A., & Sahebkar, A. (2018). Saffron in the treatment of depression, anxiety and other mental disorders: Current evidence and potential mechanisms of action. Journal of Affective Disorders, 227, 330–337.
Stephens I. (2017). Medical yoga therapy. Children (Basel, Switzerland), 4(2), 12.