[Phytotherapeutic drugs in psychiatry]

During recent years, the use of phytotherapeutics in psychiatry has gained enormous significance. The present paper reviews current scientific data on the most important herbal substances including St. John's wort, kava, valerian, and gingko. Although psychotropic phytotherapeutics have been shown to be partly effective in some psychiatric disorders, they cannot generally be recommended as an alternative to conventional medicaments because sufficient data concerning their efficacy, differentiated indication, and safety profile are still missing. Psychiatric patients treated with herbal drugs need intensive medical advice and supervision.