Refinery29:  The Bigger Issue With “Natural Remedies” For Stress & Anxiety

Dr. Karen Cassiday was recently quoted in an article on Refinery29 on natural remedies for stress and anxiety.  According to the article’s author, Cory Stieg, “we are currently living in an age of ‘anxiety consumerism.’”  This has led to a plethora of products designed to help people deal with their anxiety on their own, even though these alternatives to therapy and medication are not as effective as they often claim.  

From the article:

• Lots of people believe that holistic anxiety aids or supplements are safer or gentler for you than a psychiatric drug — but that’s a misconception, Dr. Cassiday says. In reality, the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t regulate dietary supplements to the same standard as drugs, and many of them lack scientific evidence to support that they do anything at all. While “there are legitimate supplements and herbs that we know are helpful for anxiety, they don’t work the same way for everyone,” she says. “They tend to work well with mild cases, as opposed to someone who really needs to see someone who has trained background.”
• “I’m not against integrative medicine — I love it,” Dr. Cassiday says. “What we’re finding as we do more research is that an individualized approach is the superior one.”