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INOSITOL FOR DEPRESSION AND PANIC DISORDER
SUMMARY
WHAT WE KNOW
Inositol--Vitamin B8--has been found to reduce depression, hostility, tension and fatigue. It is a
folk remedy for anxiety and sadness. Inositol has been shown in very small studies to be helpful
for depression and panic disorder, and promising for treatment of obsessive-compulsive
disorder, eating disorders and bipolar disorder. Research has not yet shown any adjunctive
benefit when inositol is used with psychotropic drugs. Inositol is a part of our diet, and
supplementation seems benign. The risk is minimal.
MENTAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS
Depression and Panic Disorder
All four sources that discuss it support use of inositol for depression and panic disorder. Writing
in Mischoulon and Rosenbaum’s compendium, Belmaker and Levine propose inositol as a
stand-alone supplement for depression and panic disorder rather than as a complement for
other psychotropic drugs, noting responses in the same people and no proven additional
benefit from using both drugs in combination. But in a 2011 analysis that included Mischoulon
as a participant, Iovieno et al. summarize the evidence as “conflicting.” Adjunctive use of
inositol remains to be investigated.
Other Mental Health Conditions
Though promising, due to study design issues inositol has not yet been established as a
treatment for
obsessive-compulsive disorder,
bipolar disorder, and
eating disorders.