Surveys show a use of up to 50% of CAM in patients suffering from psychiatric disorders, that is to say, often in depression as well as anxiety and less in addiction disorders. Mostly CAM seems to be used additionally to conventional psychiatric treatments.

Therefore, a special issue on CAM in psychiatry seems appropriate. This seems justified in view of the achievements of the first generation of CAM researchers who have contributed to evidence-based medicine (EBM) and the CAM practitioners who now have an evidence ground to turn the findings into practice in clinics and hospitals, which is sometimes called integrative medicine. For example, we nowadays face a status quo in psychiatry with St. John's Wort being included in the treatment guidelines for unipolar depressive episodes in some European countries and mindfulness meditation having entered mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in psychiatry in the USA.

So we invite long-standing researchers and offspring of the second CAM research generation, who often focus on clinical practice and patients' needs, to contribute to a truly challenging issue.

Manuscripts need to focus on human data. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Pharmacological interventions for the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, somatoform disorders, or dementia
• Nonpharmacological interventions like meditation techniques in complex therapeutic settings or single use either for special indications or for general stress reduction or preventive aspects
• Even translational aspects, for example, epigenetic factors associated with CAM interventions in psychiatric disorders are welcome

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: