Herbal Treatment of Anxiety: Clinical Studies in Western, Chinese and Ayurvedic Traditions explains the nature and types of anxiety, its neurobiology, the pathophysiology that exacerbates and perpetuates it, and the psychopharmacology of the chemical agents that relieve its manifestations. Throughout the text are discussions of Western, Chinese and Ayurvedic herbal treatments that have been clinically shown to be effective in relieving anxiety. The book also features a scientific discussion of the use of herbs and essential oils in aromatherapy and the mechanisms by which they may work. The book concludes by providing bases upon which herbs can be chosen to treat the anxiety of patients according to their individual needs.

Additional features include:

• Examines the increasingly popular subject of the use of herbs as a natural alternative treatment and provides a much-needed scientific basis for treatments often considered as merely folk medicine.
• Discusses the psychoactive phytochemicals contained in herbs.
• Includes a chapter discussing the nature and mechanisms of action of adaptogens.
• Adds to the armamentarium of anxiolytics for providers who have become reluctant to prescribe benzodiazepines as treatment of anxiety, particularly in the context of the opiate crisis.
• Gives an introduction to herbal treatments of traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine.

• Offers practical advice on initiating and managing herbal treatments.

Herbal Treatment of Anxiety is a valuable reference for psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, primary care providers, naturopathic doctors and therapists interested in the most current scientific information on the effects of herbal treatments of anxiety disorders.

Scott D. Mendelson is a practicing psychiatrist in Roseburg, Oregon. He earned a Ph.D. in biopsychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He then worked for three years as a postdoctoral fellow at The Rockefeller University in the Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology under Bruce McEwen, Ph.D. During his doctoral work and as a postdoctoral fellow, he published 24 papers on the subjects of serotonergic and hormonal regulation of sexual behavior and the effects of stress on serotonin receptor subtypes in the brain. He then attended medical school at the University of Illinois, and after graduating in 1996, he did his residency in psychiatry at the University of Virginia. In 2007, Elsevier published his first book, Metabolic Syndrome and Psychiatric Illness: Interactions, Pathophysiology, Assessment and Treatment. In 2009, M. Evans published his second book, Beyond Alzheimer's: How to Avoid the Modern Epidemic of Dementia.