A synopsis of anti-psychotic medicinal plants in Nigeria

Abstract

Psychosis is a mental disorder characterised by multiple symptoms affecting thought, emotion, perception, volition and general wellbeing of the sufferers. Psychotic patients in Nigeria are mostly managed by traditional medical practitioners, who employ varieties of medicinal plants. This review was conducted to compile a list of antipsychotic medicinal plants in Nigeria and also probe into the active metabolites that have been scientifically implicated for the management of psychosis and its opportunistic diseases. The information used was gathered from published scientific journals, books and conference proceedings sourced from scientific databases. The results revealed medicinal plants as being mostly used in the treatment of psychosis in Nigeria. This may be attributed to the belief that the ailment is due to supernatural forces that can only be cured traditionally. The majority of plants being used belong to the families Fabaceae and Apocynaceae. Leaves, stem, stem bark and sometimes roots are mostly employed in the treatment of psychosis. Alkaloid was the most implicated psychoprotective metabolite. In spite of the menace of this disease, the medicinal plants for the management of this disease have not been adequately explored. However, it is our belief that this concerted effort will pave the way for continuous research on these potent and excellent antipsychotic phytotherapies.