Homeopathic treatment of depression and anxiety.

BACKGROUND

Homeopathy is a well-established therapeutic system with potential relevance to psychiatry, but as yet it is largely untested.

OBJECTIVE

To report the use of homeopathic treatment in patients with depression and anxiety.

METHODS

Individually selected homeopathic remedies were used on an outpatient basis to treat 12 adults who had major depression, social phobia, or panic disorder. The patients either requested homeopathic treatment or received it on a physician's recommendation after partial or poor response to conventional therapies. Duration of treatment was 7 to 80 weeks. Response was monitored by using a clinical global scale (n = 12), the self-rated SCL-90 scale (n = 8), and the Brief Social Phobia Scale (n = 4).

RESULTS

Overall response rates were 58% according to the clinical global improvement scale and 50% according to the SCL-90 or the Brief Social Phobia Scale.

CONCLUSIONS

Homeopathy may be useful in the treatment of affective and anxiety disorders in patients with mildly to severely symptomatic conditions.