Complementary & Alternative Medicine

This outline is a comparative research-based approach to that question. While some activities, like exercise, are good for everyone who is physically able to do them and have no uncontrollable side effects, most decisions about CAM treatment options, and especially the decisions faced by people coping with serious mental health conditions, involve trade-offs. Nonetheless, 40% or more of Americans treat themselves with CAM without professional supervision, often without disclosing it to their psychiatrist or primary care provider. Moreover, many patients who use CAM remedies also take prescription antidepressants, risking potentially dangerous adverse herb/drug interactions. While most natural psychotropics are generally safe, they are not risk free, and the common public misconception that natural products are inherently safe has been refuted by predictions and reports of toxic reactions from these agents, which may be due to intrinsic toxicity, ,, or interaction with other herbs or drugs...