Alternative Treatments for Depression: Do They Work?
Alternative (complementary) medicine
We explain what these terms mean, and discuss the results in United Kingdom of the House of Lords’ enquiry into the value and quality of these treatments in general. There is good evidence about one particular herbal remedy for the treatment of depression – St John’s wort – and we discuss its benefits, its potential interactions and adverse effects.
We look at light therapy for seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and discuss whether there is any evidence that special diets or food supplements can help. Reflexology, aromatherapy and hypnotherapy are mentioned, and we explain what acupuncture can do – and why it won’t work so well if you are suffering from depression.
What’s the difference between alternative and complementary therapies?
Nothing! The term complementary is perhaps preferable (often charmingly mis-spelt as complimentary, which makes it sound flattering!), since its very important that depression is treated in the conventional way. You may choose to add on (complement) these approaches to your conventional treatment. It is better not to use them as alternatives to medical treatment, whether this is medication or counselling/psychotherapy. Untreated depression can go so badly wrong.
There is strong scientific evidence that conventional treatments work, but there isn’t any such evidence about most complementary/alternative therapies. That’s not to say they don’t have some effect, just that they wouldn’t be a sensible first choice. If taking a complementary treatment at the same time as your standard treatment improves your general well-being, of course that will help too (but remember that St John’s wort shouldn’t be taken at the same time as other antidepressants).
About a fifth of adults in the UK used some sort of complementary treatment, according to House of Lords inquiry on the subject. The inquiry described three main groups of treatments:
• The ‘principal disciplines’ including osteopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, homoeopathy and herbal medicine;
• The ‘complementary’ treatments of aromatherapy, hypnotherapy, reflexology, flower remedies, and shiatsu; • the alternative disciplines of crystal therapy, anthroposophy, iridology, traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese herbal medicine.
We will discuss whether some of these methods help depression further, but it’s fair to say that there are only anecdotal claims as evidence for many complementary treatments in depression. They are often expensive. While the House of Lords report didn’t condemn these treatments, it did point out that there is a serious need for better quality control of all complementary treatments. Their opinion was that evidence about safety and efficacy, labelling, and training and regulation of practitioners was all poor. If people are to use these treatments (and some of them are pretty big business), they should be available to the same quality and safety standards as other more conventional treatments. Much more research is needed (and it is difficult to find funds for research into alternative medicine).
Herbal remedies
Surely a herbal remedy is safer than a conventional drug?
This isn’t true alas. Many herbal remedies have potent effects, and of course some herbs are even poisonous. It seems to be a rule of life that there are no effects without side-effects. Most of the medication available a century ago would have been herbal remedies: opium from poppies, digitalis from foxgloves, senna from sennapods, and quinine from cinchona bark, for example. Conventional pharmacology and herbalism only grew apart in the 19th century when drugs like aspirin started to be manufactured in factories on an industrial scale.
At present, herbal remedies are not subject to the same quality and safety controls as conventional drugs, even though they may have harmful interactions and side-effects. They should be better regulated.
Herbal remedies are at rather a disadvantage when it comes to research. Many safety checks and clinical trials on animals and volunteers have to be carried out before a new drug can be licensed. It costs many millions of pounds to test and launch a new drug on the market place, and it would be hard for a pharmaceutical company to recoup their investment in something that can’t be patented, like a herbal remedy.
Are there any herbal sleeping remedies?
Valerian is said to have a mild relaxing effect. If you would like to try medication that doesn’t need a prescription, you can buy Phenergan, a mildly sedating antihistamine over the counter from a chemist.
