Remedies From Anxiety And Other Depressive Disorders

Anxiety and other depressive disorders are persons with or without dementia are the most communal types of human mental illness. It is associated with an unpleasant state of tension, apprehension, night-time awakenings and subordinate neuropsychological performance. Stress, which is a crucial element of existing healthcare society and disease, also plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, cognitive impairment, insomnia, etc in animals and humans.

Stress due to impaired anti-oxidant defense mechanism has also been shown to play role in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders. Chronic stress can induce a series of dysfunction in CNS, such as cognitive impairment, anxiety, depression, amnesia, etc along with altered free radical scavenging enzymes in discrete regions of brain. Exposure to acute restraint stress in rodents has been shown to alter some behavioral parameters and induce depression-like behavior in mice.5 Intended for many decades, the main hypothesis to explain and treat depression has been based on the pharmacological effects of antidepressants on monoamine hypothesis (i.e., blockade of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine reuptake or breakdown) . However, the time lag for a therapeutic response has led to the hypothesis that cellular and molecular adaptations following therapy are necessary for their antidepressant effects. Various antidepressants, including tricyclic antidepressant therapies, increase the neurogenesis and synaptic connectivity in the cortical area such as hippocampus.

Currently available psychoactive drugs, mainly anxiolytics, and anti-depressants do not often properly meet the therapeutic demands of patients suffering from comorbid psychiatric conditions, and the drawbacks of such drugs include unwanted side effects, incredible benefits, and moderate costs. So, herbal plants can be good sources to find new remedies for these disorders. In the search for an alternative, more specific and perhaps cost-effective therapy, research has been conducted to investigate natural anxiolytic drugs as well as new anti-depressant principles6. Saraka asoca belonging to “Fabaceae” family is a well-known small to the medium-sized handsome evergreen tree. In Hinduism term ‘Ashoka’ means “one of that relieves pain and grief” and is considered as a sacred tree. It has been widely used by folk medicine as an anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fertility, anti-arthritic, cardioprotective, larvicidal, antimutagenic/genoprotective, antidepressant, etc. and is extensively used in Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy practices. The ethanolic extract of Saraka asoca leaves and bark have been demonstrated to possess antidepressant effect in rodent subjected forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST).