Complementary & Alternative Medicine for Mental Health

272 Pages·2016·2.53 MB·English

Complementary & Alternative Medicine for
Mental Health
©2016 Mental Health America
Updated April 8, 2016
TREATMENTS
Click on any item to go directly to the summary
CDP choline Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (fish oil)
Chromium Rhodiola
Cranial Electrical Stimulation St. John’s wort
DHEA and 7-keto DHEA S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAM-e)
Folate Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Ginkgo biloba Tryptophan/5-HTP
Inositol Valerian
Kava (Piper methysticum) Wellness
Meditation Yoga
Melatonin
LIST OF CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SIDE EFFECT RISK LEVELS
 = GENERALLY SAFE
 = MINOR TO MAJOR SIDE EFFECTS
 = CAUTION ADVISED
Click on GO to go directly to the summary for that item
DEPRESSION
 Chromium for atypical depression GO>
 Cranial Electrical Stimulation for depression GO>
 DHEA and 7-keto DHEA for depression and bipolar disorder GO>
 Folate for depression and to enhance the effectiveness of conventional antidepressants GO>
 Inositol for depression GO>
 Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (fish oil) for mood stabilization and depression and to
enhance the effectiveness of conventional antidepressants GO>
 Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) for mild to moderate depression GO>
 St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) for mild to moderate depression GO>
 S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAM-e) for depression and to enhance the effectiveness of
conventional anti-depressants GO>
 Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for depression GO>
 Tryptophan/5-HTP for depression and to enhance the effectiveness of conventional
antidepressants GO>
 Wellness GO>
 Yoga for depression and schizophrenia GO>
ANXIETY, STRESS, PANIC DISORDER, AND OTHER CONDITIONS
 Cranial Electrical Stimulation for anxiety GO>
 Inositol for panic disorder GO>
 Kava (Piper methysticum) for anxiety and stress GO>
 Meditation for all forms of stress GO>
 Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) for stress GO>
 Tryptophan/5-HTP for anxiety GO>
 Wellness GO>
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 Yoga for anxiety, PTSD and ADHD GO>

SLEEP DISORDERS
 Cranial Electrical Stimulation for sleep disorders GO>
 Melatonin for jet lag and sleep disorders GO>
 Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) for sleep disorders GO>
 Wellness GO>
NEUROPROTECTION
 CDP choline as a possible neuroprotectant GO>
 Folate as a possible neuroprotectant GO>
 Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) as a possible neuroprotectant GO>
 Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (fish oil) as a possible neuroprotectant GO>
 Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) as a possible neuroprotectant GO>
 S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAM-e) as a possible neuroprotectant GO>
 Wellness GO>

CAM and Mental Health Return to Table of Contents
MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA
CAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS (2012)

A COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH TO
COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT
FOR MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS
12

1 Although some of the sources are later in time, reflecting publication in 2013, the information in this outline is
current as of December, 2012. Mental Health America cannot and does not undertake any obligation to keep the
information current after that date.
2 WIKICITATION: MHA does not have the resources to exhaustively check all citations and cross-references in this
outline, and new evidence may make existing citations obsolete at any time. Accordingly, readers are encouraged
to correct citations and update information on the listed treatments by sending e-mail to
[email protected].
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CONTENTS

MIND-BODY MEDICINE
WELLNESS:
LIVE YOUR LIFE WELL

BIOLOGICALLY-BASED PRACTICES

MOOD DISORDER TREATMENTS
 chromium for atypical depression
 DHEA and 7-keto DHEA for depression and bipolar disorder – CAUTION ADVISED
 folate for depression and to enhance the effectiveness of conventional antidepressants
 inositol for depression
 omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (fish oil) for mood stabilization and depression and
to enhance the effectiveness of conventional antidepressants
 rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) for mild to moderate depression
 S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAM-e) for depression and to enhance the effectiveness of
conventional anti-depressants
 St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) for mild to moderate depression
 tryptophan/5-HTP for depression and to enhance the effectiveness of conventional
antidepressants

CAM and Mental Health Return to Table of Contents
ANXIETY TREATMENTS
 kava (Piper methysticum) for anxiety and stress -- CAUTION ADVISED
 inositol for panic disorder
 rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) for stress
 tryptophan/5-HTP for anxiety

SLEEP DISORDER TREATMENTS
 melatonin for jet lag and sleep disorders
 valerian (Valeriana officinalis) for sleep disorders

COGNITION DISORDER TREATMENTS
 CDP choline as a possible neuroprotectant
 Folate and other B vitamins as a possible neuroprotectant
 ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) as a possible neuroprotectant
 omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (fish oil) as a possible neuroprotectant
 rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) as a possible neuroprotectant
 S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAM-E) as a possible neuroprotectant

ELECTRICAL AND MAGNETIC FIELD TREATMENTS
 Cranial Electrical Stimulation for substance use rehabilitation, depression, anxiety, and
sleep disorders
 Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for depression

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MIND-BODY TREATMENTS
 yoga for depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, and schizophrenia
 meditation for all depression, anxiety, and PTSD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This outline has been developed by Mental Health America (MHA) from the principal available
evidence-based sources of information concerning “complementary,” “alternative,”
“integrative,” “natural,” and often self-administered treatments for mental health conditions.
Mental Health America acknowledges the generous assistance of David Mischoulon, M.D.,
Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, who has reviewed the
manuscript, but who bears no responsibility for the information, which is derived mainly from
published sources. Syntheses and evaluations of the information by MHA are its responsibility
alone. MHA also bears complete responsibility for its decisions to shorten and redraft
descriptions of information from the sources. Only quoted text should be presumed to be
verbatim.

SOURCES

MHA began with the limited information accepted by the National Center for Complementary
and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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(AHRQ), at the National Institutes of Health1 and added the information contained in ten recent
compilations of “complementary and alternative medicine” (hereinafter CAM) for mental
health disorders: (1) Dr. Mischoulon’s Natural Medications for Psychiatric Disorders:
Considering the Alternatives, co-edited with Jerrold F. Rosenbaum, M.D. (also of Harvard
Medical School) (2002/2008),2 (2) How to Use Herbs, Nutrients & Yoga in Mental Health Care,
by Richard P. Brown, M.D. (of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons), Patricia
L. Gerbarg, M.D. (of New York Medical College), and Philip R. Muskin, M.D. (of Columbia as
well) (2009) (“Brown et al.”) ,3 preceded in 2004 by Brown, R.P. and Gerbarg, P.L., The Rhodiola
Revolution4 and supplemented in 2012 by Non-drug Treatments for ADHD, by Brown, R.P. and
Gerbarg, P.L.,5 and The Healing Power of the Breath, by Brown, R.P. and Gerbarg, P.L.,6 and in
2013 by Muskin, Gerbarg and Brown’s latest distillation, Complementary and Integrative
Therapies for Psychiatric Disorders (“Brown et al. II”)7 [For the purpose of counting, the
foregoing five books are treated as a single source], (3) The seminal article, “Dietary
Supplements and Natural Products as Psychotherapeutic Agents,” by Adriane Fugh-Berman,
M.D. (of Georgetown Medical School) and Jerry M. Cott, Ph.D. (of the National Institutes of
Health) (1999),8 (4) Complementary and Alternative Treatments in Mental Health Care, By
James H. Lake, M.D. (clinical assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral
science at Stanford and visiting assistant professor of medicine at the Center for Integrative
Medicine, University of Arizona School of Medicine) and David Spiegel, M.D.,9 (5) relevant
portions of the Natural Standard Herb and Supplement Guide (2010 edition),10 (6) relevant
portions of Berkeley Wellness Reports – Dietary Supplements (2010 and 2011 editions,
University of California),11 (7) relevant portions of Consumer Reports, “Dangerous
Supplements,” published by Consumers Union, September, 2010, at p. 16-20 (2010),12 (8)
relevant portions of The Mayo Clinic Guide to Alternative Medicine 2011, published by Time
Home Entertainment, Inc. (2010),13 (9) the compendium by Iovieno, N., Dalton, E. D., Fava, M. &
Mischoulon, D., “Second-tier Natural Antidepressants: Review and Critique” (2011),14 and (10)
Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Arizona School of Medicine and
bestselling CAM and integral health advocate Andrew Weil, M.D.’s relevant book, Spontaneous
Happiness (2011).15
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Although not treated as a source, except for the chapter on yoga and meditation, MHA has
benefitted enormously by guidance from James S. Gordon, M.D., a psychiatrist who runs the
Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C., and the nuanced approach to recovery
from mental health conditions that he advocates in Unstuck,16 which describes recovery as a
spiritual path.
The quest for mental wellness and recovery from mental and emotional setbacks is
fundamental to everyone’s path in life. Any search for insight into one’s life purpose, any quest
for knowledge of the self, must treat mental adversity as an opportunity for growth and for
enlightenment. That is the spiritual core of the recovery concept. And it is in that spirit that this
outline is offered, for those on the quest.
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