Complementary and Alternative Medical Treatment for Depression

Abstract

As the mainstream medical world is confronted with the dramatic increases in the utilization of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies, much is unknown regarding how to adequately consider these alternative treatments. There is little scientific justification to support the use of the vast array of alternative options, but these treatments are readily available to the public and CAM professionals. The public has been choosing to use dietary supplements, which has driven the increased utilization of CAM treatments in the past decade. This chapter discusses CAM treatments for major depression, but the primary focus is on dietary supplements. It is important to discuss how CAM clinicians ascertain that alternative treatment modalities are appropriate and then ascertain factors/symptoms in depressive illness that are most relevant when choosing from a myriad of treatment options available. It is important to mention that a substantial portion of the public has been utilizing dietary supplements without consulting CAM or non-CAM