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Wacky, hippyish, weird... There are many derogatory words used to describe complementary therapies. Yet many people, suffering from a variety of conditions, are helped by the likes of hypnotherapy, healing and herbalism with some claiming they are more effective than conventional medical approaches.

But for people with mental health problems, medication remains the most common treatment, accounting for as much as a quarter of all drugs prescribed by the NHS, according to the charity Mind.

The side-effects of some psychiatric drugs are well documented, and this, combined with a general dissatisfaction with the mental health system, has led many users to seek alternative treatments. And there are many to choose from. While some people find relaxation therapies such as massage and aromatherapy beneficial, others prefer more active methods such as exercise and dance, or use acupuncture, homeopathy and nutritional therapy.

However, despite their popularity, the availability of complementary therapies, particularly through the NHS, is restricted. Lack of research into their effectiveness is partly to blame, as well as concerns over regulation of treatments and training of providers. In addition, scepticism remains among many healthcare professionals.

"By and large there is probably less of a stigma against complementary therapists than there is against psychiatrists," says George Lewith, a doctor at the Centre for the Study of Complementary Medicine.

"Of course there are still divisions between the conventional and alternative but there is also a lot of mutual respect which has been cultured by professionalism on both sides over the past 20 years."

Lewith, who is also a senior research fellow at University of Southampton School of Medicine, says there is good evidence that herbal remedies and acupuncture can help depression and circumstantial evidence that other approaches including aromatherapy and homeopathy can be effective. But he emphasises that without controlled trials providing hard evidence it is difficult to be clear about what works with whom. "I get very good results but I'm not sure whether it's the homeopathy or because I spend half an hour listening to their problems," he says.

The client's expectations and relationship with the therapist are crucial in determining whether or not a treatment is effective. Ingrid Collins, consultant psychologist at private healthcare practice the London Medical Centre says that some practitioners, whatever their techniques, are better than others at helping people relax and "feel able to recover".

"Generally people will have seen a friend or family member benefit and come on personal recommendation," says Collins, who is also a registered spiritual healer. She feels that if complementary therapies were made more available they would "save the NHS a fortune".

"I showed a GP how to give healing and her drug budget and referral rates to hospital went down and her job satisfaction went up through the roof," she says.

There's no denying that making complementary therapies more available would be music to the ears of users. Last year Mind launched its My Choice campaign, calling for GPs to offer more treatment options to people with mental health problems. A survey found that 98 per cent of patients visiting their GP with a mental health problem were prescribed medication and more than a third who had tried alternative treatments had to ask, and often pay, for it themselves.

"Our dream would be to see complementary therapy freely available and integrated into the primary care system so people were not jumping hurdles to get to it. They summon up the courage to go to their GP and then have to summon it up again to go somewhere else," says Richard Brook, chief executive of Mind. People are starting to recognise that some choices are "not just odd and bizarre but make sense for some people", he says, but adds there is still stigma among GPs.


Reluctance among GPs is one thing, but what about the psychiatrists, often seen as the staunchest advocates of the medical model in mental illness? An informal working group on complementary medicine at the Royal College of Psychiatrists is currently going through the process of becoming a more established special interest group, to reflect growing interest in the subject, says Rachel Jenkins, visiting professor at the Institute of Psychiatry.

She also highlights the lack of research but says it's likely some therapies are helpful: "There is a need for more research and dialogue because even if therapies are shown not to help, some clients will still use them and psychiatrists and GPs need to know about it in case there is a clash."

'Healing lifted me'

"Anyone I've seen always comes across as very kind and a different breed from doctors who have done all this training. Doctors see you in clinical terms whereas alternative therapists see you in holistic terms," says Laura Stanton.

Now 27, she began suffering from depression in her early teens and was prescribed anti-depressants, including lithium, at the age of 21.

When coming off lithium, Stanton turned to herbal medicine which she found particularly helpful. She saw a herbalist, who helped her with a mixture that included St John's Wort and ginger. "It steadied my nervous system and she gave me a lot of support," she says.

While Stanton speaks very highly of herbalism, she has also tried a range of other therapies. She found weekly yoga helpful, modified her diet after a food sensitivity test, and remembers "being lifted" after attending a healing clinic. She also tried homeopathy, which "felt like counselling", and attended a cognitive and behavioural therapy course.

Stanton is steadfastly opposed to the medical model and prefers other approaches. "They need so much more emphasis on alternative healthcare," she says. 

'The changes were so powerful'

Gloria Thomas was helped so much by complementary therapies that she's now a practitioner herself. "The changes were so powerful. My life changed completely," she explains.

Thomas suffered from postnatal depression after her son was born prematurely. A year after his birth she went to see a psychiatrist who prescribed anti-depressants.

"Psychotherapy, counselling and group therapy did not help at all. I was told I would be on medication for the rest of my life. I decided to look for alternative means to combat depression," she says.

She addressed her mental and emotional state through hypnotherapy and neuro-linguistic programming which looks at subjective experience. In addition she examined her nutrition and fitness, and had acupuncture and healing. After seven years Thomas came off medication, but says that she would never recommend anyone to just stop taking it. "People ask whether they should stop taking anti-depressants and I always say no. Work with complementary health and when you feel ready to reduce the dose do it that way. If you do it immediately you're asking for trouble," she explains.

Thomas is now a hypnotherapist, master practitioner in neuro-linguistic programming and a reiki healer, and sees clients with depression, phobias and anxiety at Third Space Medicine in London.

"My depression was a miserable time but it was the making of me," she says.