Abstract

HERBAL REMEDIES TO TREAT ANXIETY DISORDERS

Alok Bhatt*, Dr. Manoj Sagar, Himanshu Chopra and Pallavi Ghildiyal

ABSTRACT

Anxiety, fear and worry are all completely natural human feelings. If these feelings occur and endure for an extended period, it affects both physical and mental health. This leads to clinical anxiety disorders. Anxiety is an aversive emotional state, in which the feeling of fear is disproportionate to the threat. Anxiety is implicated in a number of psychiatric disorders, such as depression, panic attacks, phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Anxiety disorders are the most common class of neuropsychiatric disorders in USA and many other countries. The symptoms experienced during an anxiety attack include: Rapid heartbeat and rapid breathing, Twitching or trembling, Muscle tension, Headaches, Sweating, Dry mouth and difficulty in swallowing and Abdominal pain. Herbs play a major role in the management of various Anxiety disorders. Herbal medicines are in great demand in the developed as well as developing countries for primary health care because of their wide biological and medicinal properties, higher safety margins, and lesser costs. Passiflora incarnata, Kava kava (Piper methysticum), Valeriana officinalis, Ginkgo biloba, Hypericum perforatum, Matricaria recutita, Terminalia arjuna, Citrus aurantium. Linn, Astragalus membranaceus, Withania somnifera, Coriandrum sativum L, Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi) etc have been used in poly-herbal formulations meant for treatment of Anxiety diseases. These Anxiety drugs contain variety of phyto-constituents like alkaloid achilleine, isovaleric acid, salicylic acid, asparagines, sterols, flavonoids, tannins, choline and trigonelline and coumarins. Glycosides, quercitrin and isoquercitrin etc.

Keywords: Anxiety, herbal drugs.