Herbal Mood Supplements - Are they Helpful or Hurtful?

A walk down any health store aisle will show you shelves full of supplement bottles that are calling to people who are stressed out or sad. Labels that look good say that herbs, oils, vitamins, and nutrients will help you deal with life's mental storms. But can a pill really make you feel better or calm your worries down? Experts say that there is little to no evidence to back popular supplements for anxiety and depression, despite what marketers say.

While some natural options like St. John’s wort show glimmers of potential benefit, data quality and clinical impact lag far behind FDA-approved medications and psychotherapy. And risks abound in swapping carefully tested treatments for trendy but unproven self-experiments. So before dumping prescriptions for lavender oil, consumers should understand the science, or lack thereof, underlying mental health supplements.

Of course, with millions struggling to access affordable mental healthcare, DIY solutions hold obvious appeal. Psychiatry experts say that even though many years of study have been done on some common supplements, the results are still, at best, mixed. The best way to test something is to do a randomized controlled study, but there aren't many of them; they're usually small, and they can't be blind to strongly flavored foods.

St. John’s wort offers a prime example of good intentions meeting inconclusive outcomes. Some analyses indicate modest advantages over placebo for mild to moderate depression. However, other studies find no difference, and slightly elevated mood likely doesn’t outweigh risks like medication interactions. Still, other popular aids like omega-3s, SAMe, or vitamin B derivative methylfolate show a hint of antidepressant activity in some trials but consistent convincing proof.

The evidence bar was lowered further, assessing frequently peddled anxiety soothers like lavender, kava, and valerian. While not ruling out potential psyche benefits and urging open-minded neutrality, clinicians admit they simply lack robust data in this area beyond anecdotes and speculation. Without understanding active ingredients and optimal dosing, safe use guidelines are important. And mental health supplements should never replace medical care for serious conditions.

But beyond efficacy questions, Dr. Gerard Sanacora notes clinical impact scales matter too - whether quantifiable changes occur on standardized psychiatric symptom questionnaires. “The supplement could show some effect, but it may not be enough to make a real difference,” says the Yale psychiatry professor. His colleague Dr. Dan Iosifescu similarly observes that where minor advantages appear statistically, their meaningfulness proves debatable.

This highlights a key fact: Supplements don’t undergo the same strict testing processes governing pharmaceuticals to demonstrate safety and effectiveness conclusively. Instead, thanks to the 1994 DSHEA act, they are regulated more like food products, with responsibility falling on manufacturers to ensure safety and truthfully label contents. But claims can allude to structure/function without stating outright disease treatment or prevention. Hence, creatively worded mental health promises.

While groups like supplement trade organization CRN contend makers follow evidence standards in claims-setting, Harvard’s Dr. Pieter Cohen counters that health assertions rarely get checked or enforced in ways protecting consumers. And with OBGYN Dr. Jen Gunter’s famous dictum stipulating, “the dose makes the poison,” proper dosing determination requires controls supplement sales escape. What curbs toxicity also dilutes benefits.

So, risks accompany uncertainty in using supplements as self-therapy instead of medical treatment for mood disorders. Expenses pile up, chasing elusive wellness while conditions potentially worsen. Some compounds may adversely interact with prescribed medications too. And they can even exacerbate the very psychiatric problems users hope to heal as with St. John’s wort’s stimulatory effects. Running mental health experiments with unknown substances clearly demands great caution.

But what about trying safe-seeming supplements alongside traditional therapies or for milder issues? Experts repeat the call for balance, considering both realistic confidence in scientific support and potential interactive threats. While lavender oil seems innocuous enough, slotting unvetted treatment substitutes into care plans undersupported by evidence happens at one’s own peril. Personal trials may provide anecdotal direction, but debriefing doctors enables interpreting experiences judiciously.

Above all, panels of PhDs and MDs agree: Severe anxiety or depression requires real medical attention, not wishful self-care conjectures. Supplement sales pages depicting euphoric enlightenment pastoral romance drastically oversell capacities to rescue psyches in crisis. When conditions spiral past functioning capacity, fantasy gives way to cold reality: healing happens through professional treatment plans, not product plans.

That said, in less acute cases, some find space for supplement experimentation if expectations stay modest. While prioritizing science-backed therapies, simple changes like fish oil or vitamin D may provide additional support sans side effects. Those considering supplementation first assess circumstances thoughtfully: factors like affordability, proven option accessibility, condition instability and supplement familiarity help determine viability.

Consulting both psychologists and psychiatrists ensures accounting for psychological and physiological facets, too. There isn't a single best strategy to meet all mental health needs. Integrative models let care pathways be tailored to each person, using both standard and nontraditional tools as needed. The important thing is to find a good balance between evidence and choices.

As Dr. Sanacora observes, the crux lies in sustaining realities: Supplements don’t substitute for proven anxiety and depression treatments. But when prudently incorporated into self-care toolkits absent contraindications or unreasonable opportunity costs, some offer relatively low-risk potential supports. Those struggling deserve access to every ethical recovery resource possible, plus hope. Constructive, compassionate inquiry serves progress; dogmatic rigidity thwarts it.

So, while a cold scientific look at supplement performance data shows gaps, it also shows ways to do better studies instead of rejecting the whole idea outright. Each flawed trial and unclear outcome moves our understanding forward as a whole. There are different kinds of truth, somewhere between finding hard facts and believing greedy hype without question. In this way, science must grow by constantly asking itself questions, weighing intellectual humility against hope, which is what sparks new ideas.