Overview of Some Antidepressant Plants: A Review Article
Abstract
Since its creation, humans have been seeking solutions and treatments for various diseases that have negatively affected their lives. Depression has also attracted attention as a psychiatric disease that has negatively affected the lives of many patients due to mood swings from the past to the present. It is predicted that the number of affected people will continue to increase. Various drugs are prescribed to treat depression. While treatment with drugs does not provide definitive results in the vast majority of patients, there is also a possibility of the disease recurring. Due to the side effects of synthetic drugs and drug-drug interactions, researchers are looking for more reliable and more specific treatment methods. Plants have been used to protect against and treat various diseases. They are considered more trustworthy than synthetic drugs due to their fewer side effects and interactions. According to the studies examined, it was concluded that herbal formulations applied by experts were effective in treating diseases. As a result of the research, it has been observed that some plants provide similar results in the most commonly used tests to prove their antidepressant effectiveness in the treatment of depression when compared to drugs currently used in the clinic. Considering the advantages of plants in the treatment of depression compared to synthetic drugs, it has been concluded that appropriate formulations of plants can be used effectively in treatment after more comprehensive research is done.
Keywords
Depression, medicinal plants, plant extracts, antidepressant effect
References
- Yuan H, Ma Q, Ye L, Piao G. The traditional medicine and modern medicine from natural products. Mol, 2016; 21(5): 559.
- Rang HP, Dale MM, Ritter JM. Pharmacology. 2000, Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, Scotland.
- World Health Organization. Depressive disorder (depression). 2025, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression.
- Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx). 2025. https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/
- Abbasi Maleki S, Bekhradi R, Asgharpanah J, Abbasi Maleki F, et al. Antidepressant effect of aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts of Lavandula officinalis in forced swim test and tail suspension test in male mice. J Arak Univ Med Sci, 2013; 16, 65-75.
- Rabiei Z, Rabiei S. A review on antidepressant effect of medicinal plants. Bangladesh J Pharmacol, 2017; 12: 1-11.
- Akhondzadeh S, Kashani L, Fotouhi A, Jarvandi S, et al. Comparison of Lavandula angustifolia Mill. tincture and imipramine in the treatment of mild to moderate depression: a double-blind, randomized trial. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2003; 27(1): 123-127.
- Patıl T, Kale M, Kumbhar R, Bodke V, et al. An Overvıew of Some Herbal Antıdepressant Plants. Int J Curr Pharm Res, 2024; 16(3): 1-11.
- Farvolden P, Kennedy SH, Lam RW. Recent developments in the psychobiology and pharmacotherapy of depression: optimising existing treatments and novel approaches for the future. Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2003; 12(1): 65-86.
- Dhingra D, Sharma A. A review on antidepressant plants. Nat Prod Radiance 2005; 5(2): 144-152.