Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2007 Aug;13(3):174-83. Epub 2007 Apr 23. Do Bach flo

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry: Volume 41(8) August 2002 p 895
ORAL FLOWER ESSENCES FOR ADHD
Mehta, Satwant Kaur B.S.
Penn State Hershey Medical Center
Monroeville, PA
See the Instructions for Authors for information about the preparation and
submission of Letters to the Editor.
To the Editor:
Alternative and complementary medicine is a widely used and controversial
field of practice. Oral flower essences, or Bach flower essences, are a form of
complementary medicine sometimes classified as homeopathy and sometimes
as herbal medicine. Our pilot study on the use of flower essences in children
with a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder showed them to be
efficacious in reducing inattention and hyperactivity as measured by the
Childhood Attention Profile (CAP) (p = .02). It also found almost a doubling of
improvement in global functioning over control subjects as measured by the
Columbia Impairment Scale (CIS).
The flower essences used were as follows: rescue remedy or calming essence
(a combination of impatiens, clematis, star of Bethlehem, cherry plum, and rock
rose), vervain, crab apple, and walnut. The essences are available from
www.ellonbotanicals.com , www.nelsonbach.com , and GNC and other health
food stores. We randomly administered these essences or a placebo to 10
children aged 5 to 12 years who were being admitted to partial hospitalization at
Penn State Hershey Medical Center. We chose to conduct this study in children
instead of adults for several reasons. First, the remedies are very safe, having
long been used in children and in pregnancy. The greatest adverse effect that
has been reported is aggravation, that is, a worsening of symptoms before their
clearing. To minimize or eliminate this effect, the children started by taking their
solutions twice a day for the first week of their participation in the study. After
that the dosage was increased to three times a day. Standard in flower essence
therapy is four times a day. A second reason for conducting the study in
children is that children are thought to be more responsive than adults to
homeopathic and flower essence therapies. Third, children seem to like taking
this type of medication.
Standard allopathic therapies and medications, including stimulants, were
delivered to all subjects. We followed up with parents by completing the CIS
and CAP questionnaires at 3 weeks and 3 months.
At the end of the follow-up period, three of the five children in the placebo group
had moved to inpatient hospitalization. In contrast, in the flower essence group,
three of the five children were functioning well and off all medication. The
remaining four children in the study (two in the placebo group and two in the
flower essence group) were at intermediate levels of functioning, taking
medication as outpatients. Furthermore, at first follow-up, which was 3 weeks
from admission to partial hospitalization, two in the placebo group had stopped
taking the placebo. None in the flower essence group had stopped taking the
flower essence solution by the first follow-up. All 10 children had stopped taking
the placebo or flower essence solution by the second follow-up, which was 3
months from admission to partial hospitalization.
The mean CIS and CAP scores decreased in both treatment groups by second
follow-up, though these effects were significant only for CAP scores (p = .02).
The differences between CAP scores for flower essence and placebo groups
were 4.4 at baseline, 7.0 at first follow-up (p = .03), and 7.2 at second follow-up
(p = .03).
Similarly, another recent double-blind, placebo-controlled study showed
significant improvement in functioning in persons who received homeopathy for
mild traumatic brain injury (p = .009) (Chapman et al., 1999). Studies of
homeopathy have had mixed results. While our results and those of the
traumatic brain injury study are compelling, further controlled studies need to be
done to establish better the usefulness of these nontraditional treatments. The
hope is that the psychiatric community can obtain results similar to ours in the
areas of depression (Bach flower essences: crab apple, elm, gentian, gorse,
larch, mustard, oak, pine, olive, star of Bethlehem, sweet chestnut, willow),
anxiety and phobias (Bach flower essences: aspen, cherry plum, mimulus, red
chestnut, rock rose), chronic fatigue syndrome (Bach flower essences: chestnut
bud, clematis, honeysuckle, hornbeam, mustard, olive, white chestnut, wild
rose), eating disorders, and weight reduction (a variety of essences including
crab apple).
Satwant Kaur Mehta, B.S.
1. Chapman EH, Weintraub RJ, Milburn MA, Pirozzi TO, Woo E (1999),
Homeopathic treatment of mild traumatic brain injury: a randomized, double-blind,
placebo-controlled trial. J Head Trauma Rehabil 14:521-542
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