The effect of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) on anxiety and depression

Depression therapy and prevention is a topical issue of today's medicine. Most drugs used in the treatment of mental disorders have many side effects that affect the quality of life. Herbal medicines have a high level of availability and an almost complete absence of adverse drug effect manifestations. Melissa officinalis is widely used in Oriental medicine for the treatment of mental disorders, which can be considered as an opportunity to use lemon balm as an adjunctive therapy for depression and other mental disorders. The aim of the review is to pool the available data on adjunctive Melissa officinalis therapy for mental disorders. Materials and methods. We identified potentially relevant trials by searching MEDLINE, SCOPUS, PubMed, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from inception to June 2022 using the terms: lemon balm, depression, anxiety, psychiatric disorders, irritation, therapy, efficacy. Further, according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, as well as by means of independent selection, all the authors of this article selected the sources that met the criteria and compiled this review. Results. Clinical trials show the effectiveness of Melissa officinalis in the treatment of anxiety, depression, and insomnia, however, due to the heterogeneity of the statistical data, the results should be regarded as preliminary until the completion of further studies with more homogeneous groups of participants and standardized dosages, dosage forms, and duration of administration.