September 7, 2023
Depression characterized by mood disorder, sadness, anxiety, hopelessness, difficult to concentrate, loss of appetite, interest, and have suicidal thoughts. Depression can be experienced by any age and gender. Depression often not considered and people believe that it will recover by itself, but if this condition is not treated immediately, it will gradually affect the quality of life. Therefore, depression should be treated immediately. Solutions to overcome depression include drug therapy and nondrug therapy. Depression drug therapy is very likely to cause considerable side effects such as sedation, nausea, and insomnia. Various efforts to avoid these side effects can be done with other alternatives in the form of non-drug therapies such as aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is expected not to cause severe side effects and have benefits such as anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, and antianxiety. Aromatherapy is the treatment with the essential oils obtained from various parts of plants, flowers, and trees.
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is an aromatherapy that is widely used as depression therapy because it’s benefits such as analgesic, antianxiety, antidepressant, and improve sleep quality. Studies in Iran and America show that lavender aromatherapy is effective on reducing depression level in hemodialysis patients, acute coronary syndrome patients, and the elderly. Jasmine (Jasminum sambac) includes aromatherapy which has benefits as an antidepressant. In addition, Jasmine aromatherapy can stimulate serotonin so that it can increase energy and mood. Research in Thailand with subjects who feel stressed, frustrated, and sad experienced improvements like feeling more positive, relaxed, and active after being given jasmine aromatherapy.
. The results of statistical tests stated that both lavender aromatherapy and Jasmine aromatherapy had an equally good influence in reducing depression levels. This is because lavender and jasmine aromatherapy has linalool content. When a person inhales aromatherapy in both Lavender and Jasmine, the olfactory nerve will be stimulated and GABA receptor activation occurs. Then, this will activate the cAMP so that the Ca2+ and Na2+ channels open. The stimulation formed will be passed to the limbic system and then continued to the hypothalamus and will be passed to the raphe nucleus so that serotonin release. Serotonin will stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system so that it will cause a person to be more relaxed, comfortable, and calm.
Medical schools are stressful environments and depression is reported among almost one-third of medical students globally. Despite this, very few medical students seek treatment. A clinical study compared the effects of inhaling lavender essential oil or jasmine (J. sambac) absolute to a control (water only) on depression among 1st- and 2nd-year medical students. Participants in each group inhaled lavender, jasmine, or water for 15 to 20 minutes before going to bed for 7 consecutive nights. Questionnaires were completed before and after intervention to determine the effects on depressive state. The average depressive state decreased from 19.73 (moderate depression) to 14.73 (mild depression) in the lavender group and from 19.33 (moderate depression) to 14.06 (mild depression) in the jasmine group. Statistical analysis and normalization of the data showed that lavender decreased depression 24% and jasmine 28.9%. This suggests both lavender and jasmine have potential to decrease depression among stressed and depressed medical students. Therefore recent studies show that both Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and Jasmine aromatherapy (Jasminum sambac) reduce depression level.
https://www.researchgate.net/.../367174345_The