Current Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders: An Evidence-Based Review

Professional paper - Chapter in Book

• Author: Vladimir Trkulja
• Author: Hrvoje Barić
• Editor: Kim Yong-Ku
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; School of Medicine; (Department of Pharmacology)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE; Basic Medical Sciences; Pharmacology

Abstract (english)

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) encompasses a wide range of different nonmainstream therapies that have been increasingly used for treatment or adjunctive treatment of various ailments with anxiety/anxiety disorders being one of the commonly CAM (self)-medicated conditions. Thousands of published papers refer to use of CAM in various psychiatric disorders or in healthy or medically ill patients with mood or anxiety difficulties. In this chapter we focus specifically on clinically diagnosed (in line with the standard criteria) anxiety disorders and overview evidence of efficacy/safety of a range of CAM modalities: biologically based therapies (typically herbal preparations and less so nutraceuticals); manipulative and body-based therapies (acupuncture, aerobic exercise, massage, therapeutic touch, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, balneotherapy, and others); mind-body therapies (yoga, Morita therapy, Tai Chi, reiki, Chinese cognitive therapy, religious and spiritual interventions, relaxation, mediation, and mindfulness-based interventions); and alternative medical systems (Ayurveda, homeopathy). We focus exclusively on randomized controlled trials and attempt to evaluate the existing body of evidence in the same manner that is applied to mainstream treatments.

• Keywords (english): Acupuncture Therapy; Anxiety Disorders / therapy; Complementary Therapies; Evidence-Based Practice; Exercise; Humans; Massage; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Tai Ji; Yoga
• Language: english
• Publication type: Professional paper - Chapter in Book
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review
• Publication version: Accepted version
• Book title: Anxiety Disorders: rethinking and understanding recent discoveries
• Numbering: pp. 415-449
• ISBN: 978-981-32-9704-3
• e-ISSN: 2214-8019
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9705-0_22
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:105:756908
• Publication: 2020
• Document URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-981-32-9705-0_22
• Type of resource: Text
• Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
• Publishing place: Singapore
• Access conditions: Open access; Embargo expiration date: 2021-12-01
• Created on: 2020-12-09 09:42:40