Jas.Anderson

I don't know if St. John's Wort is the most popular drug-free treatment available on the market, but I have read that St. John's Wort is prescribed more in England that are pharmaceutical interventions! That is pretty compelling.

This site also has some other herbal treatments for depression...I'm not sure about all of them though!

Many times, just like there is not one cause for depression, there is not one cure either. Most people find that exploring myriad treatments in succession or together results in a treatment regime that works for them specifically (e.g. dancing + meditation + dietary change + acupuncture + certain drug = happiness for someone)

So yes, Chinese Herbs can be part of a successful depression treatment regime. However, TCM practitioners would rarely (if ever) prescribe 1 herb in isolation to any given patient, or the same combination of herbs to many different clients. Instead, most Tradition Chinese Medicine (or 'Oriental Medicine') practitioners come up with an individualized 'tincture' or combination of herbs to specifically treat their client's particular depression symptoms. For example, if one depressed patient had weeping episodes, trouble with low energy, and digestive issues, they would be prescribed different herbs than someone whose depression was exemplified through the symptoms of insomnia, anxiety and anger.

Additionally, a TCM practitioner (the person prescribing the chinese herbs in most cases) would also be working with the patient on dietary changes, sleeping patters, and perhaps performing some acupuncture as well. Therefore, the ability of the herbs to treat the condition is difficult to measure as they are a part of the entire treatment regime.

Herbs can be potent and have real interactions with pharmaceutical drugs. Therefore, it is important to discuss with your practitioner (the one who prescribed you with the anti-depressant and/or the one who suggested you take St. John's Wort if they are not in fact the same practitioner) the potential interactions of these two substances. The National Institute of Mental Health notes that taking St. John's Wort can reduce the effectiveness of other drug interventions like those used to treat AIDS, heart disease, organ transplant rejections, seizure and certain cancers. I am not noting these to be an alarmist, just to highlight the importance of discussing taking St. John's Wort with your doctor. You should always discuss potential interactions with your doctor when introducing a new substance, drug or herb, with the other drugs you are taking.

Also, if you are wanting to transition from your anti-depressant to St. John's Wort, you'll want to discuss with him/her how to wean yourself off of the drug, as stopping any drug 'cold-turkey' can have unwanted side effects. Better to wean yourself off of the drug and then introduce the herb, or lightly overlap the two, but again, only under the eye of an experienced practitioner.

If nothing else, certain essential oils used in aromatherapy can help relax and calm an anxious mind. There is some research on aromatherapy ( Aromatherapy) but there could be more. The fact that there are only a few studies on the subject is due to limited funding for research and (in my opinion) not due to a lack of effectiveness of these treatments. Hopefully aromatherapy will have more rigorous and extensive scientific study to back it soon!