PTSD: Can Herbal and Nutritional Medicine help?

• • • • • • • • • • hypervigilance
                  • avoidance
                  • numbing of feelings
                  • nightmares
                  • depression
                  • insomnia

These symptoms can last for months or years. Whilst it can affect anyone, Police and First Responders are particularly at high-risk of developing this complex condition due to the nature of their occupational duties, exposing them to trauma day-after-day, month-after-month and year-after-year. The 2018 Round Table report by charity Australia 21 into PTSD found that 30-40% of cases do not respond to current treatments of SSRI (anti-depressant) medication and psychological treatment, whilst a further 1/3 remained symptomatic after treatment i.e.

Around 2/3 of individuals with PTSD remain partially or completely symptomatic even after receiving the ‘gold standard’ of available treatments today.

Similarly, the new Sunshine Coast University research facility into PTSD state “Few treatments have been developed which are effective in treating PTSD”

Are there more options under our nose for our struggling emergency workers?

Herbal Medicine (Phytotherapy) has hundreds of years of practice of remedies for “nervous affections” and “griefes and paines” of the head and brain, but now science is showing why humans have trusted herbs for so long. Research to date has found that Major Depression (MD) and PTSD share common brain mechanisms which centre on disturbance of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). The HPA is the messenger system for our central nervous system, comprising a complex signalling system between these organs. Hyperactivation of this pathway is also known to have a distinct role in anxiety conditions. Traditional medicine has long understood and worked with this pathway with herbals known as adaptogens, nervines and anxiolytics.

A 2018 updated systemic review of Herbal Medicines for the treatment of psychiatric disorders by Australian Professor Jerome Sarris, found that there was:

“..high level evidence for kava, passionflower and galphimia for anxiety disorders; and St John's wort and saffron for major depressive disorder."

 Similarly in 2022, the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) and Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) comprising 15 countries including Australia, formulated clinician guidelines for the treatment of psychiatric disorders with nutraceuticals and phytoceuticals (herbal). They found that there was:

“Grade A evidence for St John’s wort, saffron, curcumin, and lavender in the treatment of unipolar depression and Ashwagandha, galphimia, and lavender were modestly supported in the treatment of anxiety disorders.”

The safety and tolerability of these herbs were also found to be high. Given the results so far in herbal research and that our modern world seems to require scientific justification for a treatment to be valid, let’s hope that funding can be forthcoming for further high quality research into the cornucopia of unexamined or little examined herbal plant remedies.

Nutritional imbalances have also been found to profoundly impact mental health. For 35 years Dr William Walsh and his not-for-profit Research Institute has examined over 25,000 patients and has identified specific biochemical imbalances underpinning disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, ADHD and Parkinson’s.

“..we are approaching an era in which psychiatric medications may no longer be necessary.  An under-appreciated fact is that the primary raw materials for the synthesis of many neurotransmitters are nutrients - amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and other natural biochemicals that we obtain from food.”

Dr Walsh’s research suggests that improvement in mental health is unlikely to occur unless nutrition imbalances are addressed in the first instance, otherwise the person literally does not have the building blocks to make the required balance of neurotransmitters. The role of nutrients in mental health disorders therefore, certainly warrants higher attention and inclusion in research and treatment protocols.

Considering the reported high safety and tolerability profiles for herbal and nutrient therapies, could it be that their inclusion in treatment protocols should be the first step in the recovery and management of mental health conditions, including PTSD? Considering also the intensely complex and individual biochemical and emotional nature of PTSD, the notion of a ‘one-pill’ treatment is perhaps folly, even to those without scientific training.

Maybe, as PTSD is a multi-symptom and highly varied and individual disorder, a recovery programme should likewise be individually tailored from multiple modalities.

In the meantime while research continues, a herbalist or naturopath can safely prescribe herbal & nutritional support for a variety of PTSD symptoms being experienced. The dose of over-the-counter supplements may not be correct for you, nor may the quality, so consult with a degree qualified Herbalist or Naturopath who are trained in this. Herbal Medicines can interact with pharmaceutical medications.

 Want to try herbs for yourself? See the "Stress and Anxiety Sampler Package" on the Services page