Published Paper Details:

Sleep and anxiety disorders are extremely popular and co-morbid diseases that greatly deteriorate the quality of life, cognitive abilities, and health in general. The shortcomings of traditional pharmacotherapies, such as adverse effects, tolerance and dependence have resulted in the growing enthusiasm to explore herbal substitutes with superior safety profiles. The purpose of this review is to assess the therapeutic potential of the chosen herbal actives in treating anxiety and sleep disorders, their mechanisms of action, and formulation into form of convenient delivery systems. The databases used in a thorough literature search, including PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, were searched in the period 2000-2025 with the priority on human clinical evidence with preclinical results. Pharmacological effects of key botanicals such as Withania somnifera, Nelumbo nucifera, Ocimum sanctum, Myristica fragrans, and Lavandula angustifolia were studied. These results suggest that these herbal actives have multi-targeted effects such as hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis modulation, GABAergic neurotransmission, serotonergic pathway regulation, and antioxidant activity, which can lead to better sleep and less anxiety. Also, it has been shown that these actives can be incorporated into herbal oral dissolving films (HODFs), showing possible benefits in terms of bioavailability and patient compliance. To sum up, herbal actives are a promising multi-mechanistic treatment to sleep and anxiety disorders, but additional well-designed clinical trials are needed to confirm the effectiveness and standardization of multi-herbal preparations in the wider treatment options.