Rhodiola → Depression
Higher Rhodiola moves Depression only in some conditions. Read the mechanism.
Mao 2015 found that twelve weeks of Rhodiola rosea extract did not beat placebo on Hamilton change among 57 adults with mild-to-moderate major depression (-5.1 versus -4.6; groups P=0.79). Darbinyan 2008 reported that SHR-5 at 340 or 680 mg a day did move Hamilton scores versus placebo in 89 people.
Randomized trial · Contested · N=57
Supported by an experiment or a tightly identified design. Read the caveats.
Mechanism
Authors treat a rhodiola extract as a mild antidepressant with a better side-effect story than an SSRI. Mao tests that against sertraline and placebo. Darbinyan tests two SHR-5 doses against placebo. Mao, Xie, Zee, Soeller, Li, Rockwell and Amsterdam (2015) assigned 57 people to standardized R. rosea, sertraline, or placebo for twelve weeks. Mixed-effects models found no group difference on HAM-D (P=0.79), BDI (P=0.28), or CGI (P=0.17). HAM-D change was -8.2 on sertraline, -5.1 on rhodiola, and -4.6 on placebo. Adverse events were 63.2, 30.0, and 16.7 percent (P=0.012). Darbinyan, Aslanyan, Amroyan, Gabrielyan, Malmström and Panossian (2008) assigned 89 people with DSM-IV mild-to-moderate depression and HAMD 21 to 31 to SHR-5 340 mg (n=31), 680 mg (n=29), or placebo (n=29) for six weeks. The abstract says overall depression, insomnia, emotional instability, and somatization improved on both doses and not on placebo. It does not publish the Hamilton increment.
Caveats
Researchers assigned people to an extract or a control, so this is a trial stamp. The cleaner US trial missed. More papers of the same design do not settle the claim. Mao is fifty-seven people and a failed three-way contrast. Sertraline moved more and hurt more. That is a risk-benefit sentence, not a Hamilton identification. Darbinyan is SHR-5 from the extract's developers. The published abstract does not name the point change. Ross 2015 is a nursing-practice write-up of that file, not a second trial. It is not on this page. This is a journal entry, not medical advice.
Effect
qualitative. Mao 2015: HAM-D -5.1 rhodiola vs -4.6 placebo vs -8.2 sertraline, groups P=0.79, N=57. Darbinyan 2008 SHR-5 340/680 mg vs placebo, N=89, authors report HAMD improved on both doses not placebo.
Nodes
Named confounders
Cite this page
What Causes What. “Rhodiola → Depression.” https://whatcauseswhat.org/edges/e-rhodiola-depression (atlas updated 2026-09-02).
Papers
- Rhodiola rosea versus sertraline for major depressive disorder: A randomized placebo-controlled trial.
JJ Mao, SX Xie, J Zee, I Soeller, QS Li, K Rockwell, JD Amsterdam · 2015 · Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology
- Clinical trial of Rhodiola rosea L. extract SHR-5 in the treatment of mild to moderate depression.
V Darbinyan, G Aslanyan, E Amroyan, E Gabrielyan, C Malmström, A Panossian · 2008 · Nordic journal of psychiatry