A Review on Relevance of Herbal Medications for Psychiatric Patients

Abstract

Objective: This review illustrates on the use of herbal medication and its impact among psychiatric patients. Method: PubMed was searched for articles related to the herbal remedies used in the psychiatric patients. A secondary search was performed using references obtained from articles published from 2000 – 2017 identified by the PubMed search. Articles focusing on the experimental trails in adults and those patients who were not on medication was excluded during the selection process and those articles which aimed in accessing the incidence of drug interaction and possible negative effects due to co-administration of herbal medications with psychiatry drugs was included in this review. Result and Discussion: Effective studies have shown that additional alternative treatment with particularized herbal medicine increases antidepressant response and that reduces certain side effects associated with psychotropic medications. Herbal medicines used for the treatment of psychiatric problems was produced safe and effective towards severe depressive episodes, but usage of these herbal drugs in patients with mental illness led to unusual occurrence of side effects. This review also discusses the pharmacological mechanism of drug interaction of various herbal medications. Conclusion: This review gives an insight of the importance in increasing the knowledge of the health care professionals of the safety and efficacy of psychiatric drug use with herbal medication, at the same time it is also important to provide information to the patients regarding the benefits and contraindications of these herbal remedies when accessed with the other psychiatric medications.