The Need for Evidence-Based Herbal and Nutritional Anxiety Treatments in Psychiatry
The introduction will explain the scope of the book: (i) the presentation of clinical evidence for the efficacy of herbal and nutritional treatments in the context of anxiety disorders, and (ii) how health professionals can apply this knowledge in a clini
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The Need for Evidence-Based Herbal and Nutritional Anxiety Treatments in Psychiatry David A. Camfield, Erica McIntyre, and Jerome Sarris
1.1
The Experience of Anxiety
Anxiety is a ubiquitous part of the human condition, with anxiety disorders suffered by 14.4 % of Australians over a 12-month period [1], and 26.3 % over a lifetime [2]. Similar figures exist for the USA, with a life-time prevalence as high as 33.7 % [3]. Whilst fear is an emotional response to imminent threat, anxiety involves the anticipation of future threat [4] and may be experienced in response to a wide range of circumstances including public speaking, financial stress, separation, traumatic experiences, or substance use [5]. To the individual who is experiencing symptoms of anxiety, it is a distressing psychological state—and one that is associated with both apprehensive thoughts together with physiological symptoms including a
D.A. Camfield (*) School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia e-mail: [email protected] E. McIntyre School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology, Ultimo, NSW, Australia J. Sarris University of Melbourne, Department of Psychiatry, The Melbourne Clinic, The Professorial Unit, ARCADIA Mental Health Research Group, 2 Salisbury St, Richmond, Melbourne, VIC 3121, Australia Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 D. Camfield et al. (eds.), Evidence-Based Herbal and Nutritional Treatments for Anxiety in Psychiatric Disorders, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-42307-4_1
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pounding heart, difficulties in breathing, nausea and a feeling of detachment from the environment. Further, with chronic anxiety come additional problems such as restlessness, fatigue, difficulties with concentration and sleep, as well as muscular tension. Many individually additionally begin to adversely modify their lifestyles in order to avoid anxiety-provoking situations [6]. Although many individuals will experience transient anxiety as part of their day-to-day life, for other individuals, the symptoms become severe enough to cause significant impairment in day-to-day living. Current first-line treatments for anxiety include pharmaceuticals such as benzodiazepines and serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), as well as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) involving exposure to anxiety-provoking stimuli and the targeting of dysfunctional cognitions.
1.2
Limitations of Current Treatment Approaches
Whilst pharmaceutical treatments may be effective in bringing symptomatic relief to some patients, there are known issues which limit their efficacy. First, they do not always work well in conjunction with psychotherapeutic approaches, having been designed as
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