Ganmai Dazao Decoction is from the Essentials from the Golden Cabinet.It is a famous prescription for the treatment of psychiatric diseases in the ancient and modern times.The prescription form is concise but the clinical efficacy is remarkable.It has the effects of calming the mind and eliminating dysphoria,nourishing heart and relieving depression,nourishing spleen and harmonizing the center,softening liver and relieving,etc.Due to the absence of the name for depression in traditional Chinese medicine,and the symptoms of depression are similar to insomnia,visceral agitation and so on,Ganmai Dazao Decoction is often used as a formula for treating visceral agitation to treat depression and other psychosomatic diseases in clinic.We compiled the clinical research and modern pharmacology experiment data of Ganmai Dazao Decoction in recent years.The results show that this decoction is effective for the treatment of various depression and provide reference for clinical medication.