The Effects of Vitex Agnus Castus and Vitamin E on Anxiety in women with Mastalgia: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Nearly half of billion people worldwide suffer from mental disorders especially anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are most common in women. One of the causes of anxiety disorders in women is hormonal problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of common medications used to treat or reduce the symptoms of female hormonal imbalance which can lead to anxiety disorders. In this clinical trial، 210 women with mastalgia were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly divided into three groups. Before the study، anxiety levels were assessed with the Beck anxiety inventory (BDI). For three months، the first group was given Vitex tablets and the second group was given vitamin E. The third group was control and received no intervention. At the end، anxiety levels were assessed again and the groups compared with each other. The mean of Beck anxiety scores at the time of entering the study were 24. 6±2. 4 in Vitex Agnus Castus group، 22. 7±1. 4 in vitamin E group، and 23. 3±3. 3 in control group، and no significant differences between the groups has been observed. At the end of study، there was a statistically significant difference between the three groups. The mean of anxiety scores reduced to 12. 6±2. 1 in Vitex Agnus Castus group، 19. 5±1. 1 in vitamin E group and 20. 2±3. 4 in control group. The results showed that both drugs reduced anxiety levels. This effect in vitex agnus castus is more than other groups. Since vitex agnus castus is used to treat some of the women’s diseases، we can also use this herbal drug as an anti-anxiety drug and reduce chemically anti-anxiety drugs. Another important point of vitex agnus castus is low cost of this drug that can be considered.