Main phytotherapics and other drugs used to treat anxiety and depression

Abstract

Depression and anxiety, although manifested in different ways, have common foundations, as individuals who are diagnosed with one of these disorders in the majority of the population undergoing psychiatric treatment end up inheriting more than one mental illness. It is known that the drugs used in the treatment of both disorders cause many side effects, with this the search for herbal medicines that contribute to improvement in mild cases has grown, the exploratory and descriptive study aims to describe the most used, its mechanism of action and contraindications, without a precise therapeutic indication. Data on herbal medicines were collected through a survey of articles that took place on the Scielo, Pubmed, Lilacs platforms, articles from the period 2015 to 2020 were chosen. pharmacology such as Bertram G. Katsung. The main herbal medicines found in the literature were those with the following medicinal plants in their composition: Passiflora incarnata L., Valeriana officinalis L., Piper methysticum L., Hypericum perforatum L. and Crataegus oxyacanth L., having their side effects and contraindications in association with another nervous system depressant, pregnant or lactating women, hepatocompromised individuals, among others. Therefore, an accurate medical evaluation of the patient's case is recommended, relating its history with signs and symptoms, in order to have an adequate therapeutic indication, always being under pharmacotherapeutic follow-up.