An Overview of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Therapies for Anxiety and Depressive Disorders: Supplement to Efficacy of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Therapies for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

BACKGROUND VA is committed to expanding the breadth of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related services available to Veterans. Since depressive and anxiety disorders share common features with PTSD, this report was commissioned to examine the efficacy of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies for the treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders as a means to detect treatments that might be applicable to PTSD. METHODS The key questions (KQs) were adapted from the parent report, Efficacy of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Therapies for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. We searched MEDLINE® (via PubMed®) and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for recent English-language systematic reviews (SRs) that examined the literature on mind-body medicine, manipulative and body-based practices, and movement or energy therapies, excluding nutritionals, herbal remedies and other supplements. To be included, SRs had to be published within the past five years and be evaluated as a “fair” or “good” quality. Titles, abstracts, and articles were reviewed in duplicate, and relevant data were abstracted by authors trained in the critical analysis of literature. KEY FINDINGS We identified five relevant SRs on mind-body CAM therapies, but none on manipulative and body-based, movement-based, or energy therapies. Most primary studies were small trials that did not provide descriptions of CAM strategies adequate to permit replication. Dose, duration, and frequency of interventions sometimes varied widely. Key findings were: The limitations of the current evidence preclude strong conclusions about specific CAM interventions for the treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders. However, limited evidence supports the use of meditation, relaxation training and/or breathing retraining, and mindfulness-based stress reduction for anxiety, as well as acupuncture for depression. This evidence should be considered together with the direct data on CAM treatments for PTSD when planning further treatment studies.