Dr. Weeks’ Comment: While practicing corrective medicine and psychiatry over the past. 40 years, I’ve also maintained a large organic orchard and, during Covid, we planted 300 lavender plants. Each summer, we harvest the lavender blossoms and distill them into lavender oil, which is a highly therapeutic extract. We also produce lavender sachets, which are beautiful and very fragrant. In the article below, you’ll see that lavender has been tested as an antidepressant and found to be very effective having, as it does, an “independent, direct antidepressant effect”. It addresses the core symptoms. Most lavender oil is cut with almond oil or something but if you have the hundred percent organic lavender oil it’s very potent.
“Silexan is a preparation from lavender oil whose antidepressant effect has been proven in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 8-week study in patients with mild or moderate major depressive disorder.”
Lavender Oil Cuts Core Symptoms of Major Depression
Deborah Brauser
October 02, 2026
An oral lavender oil preparation produced broad antidepressant effects in patients with mild-to-moderate major depressive disorder (MDD), with a symptom profile similar to that of the SSRI sertraline.
Results of an industry-funded randomized controlled trial involving nearly 500 patients showed that the preparation, known as Silexan, was significantly more effective than placebo after 8 weeks for five of nine symptoms assessed with the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), including apparent and reported sadness, reduced appetite, concentration difficulties, and lassitude.
The findings point to an “independent, direct antidepressant effect,” the investigators led by Hans-Jürgen Möller, MD, Ludwig Maximillian University, Munich, Germany, noted.
ARTICLE
Effects of lavender oil preparation silexan on different symptoms of major depression – results from a randomized, controlled trial
Hans-Jürgen Möller, MD ,
International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, Volume 29, Issue 9, September 2026, pyag041, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyag041
Published: 04 August 2026
Abstract
Background
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by depressed mood, anhedonia, and loss of energy, which can be accompanied by associated symptoms and co-morbidities. Psychiatric scales such as the Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) must account for the complex nature of depression.
Results
498 subjects (silexan 170, sertraline 171, placebo 157) were treated and analyzed. After 8 weeks, silexan was superior to placebo for 5 out of the 9 MADRS items analyzed (“apparent sadness”, “reported sadness”, “reduced appetite”, “concentration difficulties”, “lassitude”; P < .05) and showed clinically important adjusted mean value differences >0.2 points for 7 out of the 9 items. Item-level results for silexan and sertraline were mainly comparable.
Conclusions
Silexan had a strong over-all antidepressant effect, with the most pronounced improvements affecting the cardinal symptoms of depression.
Significance statement
Patients with depressive disorders can show many different symptoms. To better characterize the clinical action of an antidepressant, it is therefore important to analyze not only the overall value of a depression scale but also the individual items that describe these symptoms. Silexan is a preparation from lavender oil whose antidepressant effect has been proven in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 8-week study in patients with mild or moderate major depressive disorder. Based on the individual items of the Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale that was used as the main outcome for efficacy, we found in an exploratory, hypothesis-generating analysis that silexan had a rather broad antidepressant effect in the participants of our study, with potentially clinically meaningful advantages over placebo for 7 out of the 9 individual items investigated. This applied in particular to the main symptoms of depression, namely sadness and lassitude. Our single-item analysis thus helps to understand the antidepressant effects of silexan in more detail.
Significant outcomes
- In patients with mild to moderate major depressive disorder, lavender oil preparation silexan has a clinical profile similar to that of the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor sertraline based on an item-level analysis of the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS).
- Silexan has a significant antidepressant effect that includes an alleviation of depressed mood, anhedonia, and loss of energy, the cardinal symptoms of depression. The broad improvement of symptoms of depression could not be explained by the proven anxiolytic efficacy silexan alone but indicates an independent, direct antidepressant effect.
- The present item-level analysis provides valuable and detailed additional insights into the therapeutic profiles of silexan and sertraline and may help clinicians to tailor antidepressant treatment to the specific symptoms of a patient.
Article Key Points
- Silexan 80 mg/d improved total MADRS vs placebo after 8 weeks.
- Broad symptom benefit: sadness, appetite, concentration, lassitude.
- Item-level effects largely comparable with sertraline 50 mg/d.
- Exploratory analysis; no multiplicity adjustment for MADRS items.
- Trial: 498 adults with mild-to-moderate single/recurrent MDD.
From Anxiety to Depression
Silexan is a standardized oral essential oil derived from Lavandula angustifolia and is registered as a medicinal product for anxiety disorders. In previous randomized, placebo-controlled trials, it not only reduced anxiety symptoms but also improved co-morbid depression.
An antidepressant effect was also observed in patients with mixed anxiety and depressive disorder, raising the possibility that its benefits extend beyond anxiolysis.
The researchers point out that MDD is highly heterogeneous: Patients present with different constellations of symptoms. To characterize the antidepressant effects of Silexan, they looked beyond the overall MADRS score and examined changes in individual items.
In addition, to better understand which depressive symptoms were driving overall benefit, the investigators conducted a preplanned exploratory analysis of individual MADRS items.
In the previously reported double-blind, double-dummy LEAD trial, Silexan 80 mg/d and sertraline 50 mg/d were both more effective than placebo after 8 weeks in terms of total MADRS total score in patients with mild-to-moderate MDD.
In the current preplanned exploratory analysis of the same trial, the investigators examined whether those overall improvements were reflected across individual depressive symptoms.
The analysis included 498 predominantly White adults from sites in Germany and Poland with mild or moderate, single or recurrent MDD. Participants were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of Silexan, sertraline, or placebo. Nine individual MADRS items were assessed.
Core MDD Symptoms Improve
Participants were randomly assigned to receive Silexan (n = 170; mean age, 45.8 years; 69.4% women), sertraline (n = 171; mean age, 44.7 years; 64.3% women), or placebo (n = 157; mean age, 46.6 years; 63.1% women) for 8 weeks.
Results showed that both Silexan and sertraline were superior to placebo in reducing MADRS total scores (P = .008 and P = .001, respectively).
Additionally, Silexan was significantly superior to placebo on five MADRS items: apparent sadness (P = .014), reported sadness (P = .011), reduced appetite (P = .048), concentration difficulties (P = .011), and lassitude (P = .003).
Silexan also showed adjusted mean differences of more than 0.2 point vs placebo for inner tension and inability to feel, although both narrowly missed statistical significance (P = .051 and P = .058, respectively). Overall, item-level outcomes with Silexan and sertraline were largely comparable.
The most pronounced improvements with Silexan were observed in symptoms central to MDD, including depressed mood, anhedonia, and loss of energy.
However, the researchers noted that the item-level analyses were exploratory and not adjusted for multiple comparisons.
Silexan improved overall depressive symptoms more than placebo on the MADRS scale, but the trial wasn’t designed to determine whether differences in individual symptoms were meaningful.
Even so, the investigators said the analysis provides additional insight into how Silexan may affect specific symptoms of MDD.
The study was funded by the manufacturer of Silexan. Disclosure information for the study investigators is available in the original study publication.
Dive Deeper
What is Silexan’s antidepressant mechanism?
How does Silexan compare with SSRIs long-term?
Which MDD subgroups benefit most from Silexan?