Evidence Level
Moderate
Chamomile has some of the strongest evidence among herbal anxiolytics for generalized anxiety disorder. Amsterdam et al. (2009) established chamomile's efficacy in an 8-week RCT, finding significant reductions in HAM-A scores compared to placebo. Mao et al. (2016) provided rare long-term data, showing chamomile maintained anxiolytic effects over 38 weeks and reduced relapse rates. Amsterdam et al. (2012) further demonstrated antidepressant activity alongside anxiolytic effects. The mechanism is primarily mediated by apigenin binding to the benzodiazepine site on GABA-A receptors (Avallone et al., 2000), with additional contributions from anti-inflammatory effects on neuroinflammation.