The Use of St. Johns Wort as an Antidepressant

A growing body of clinical tests on the herbal remedy St. Johns’ Wort has been investigating the herb’s role as an antidepressant - even in cases of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and postpartum depression. St. John’s Wort is recognized in Europe as a treatment for depression and anxiety. In traditional herbal medicine, hypericum perforatum extract (St. John’s Wort) is used for a variety of conditions. It is affable towards the nervous, muscular-skeletal, urinary systems and the skin, and has a regenerative effect on injured nerves and the nervous system as a whole (Green, p.237). As a sedative, it is effective in cases of neuralgia, anxiety and the effects of tension (Hoffman, p. 229). However, in traditional herbal medicine, one of its contraindications is the avoidance of its use in cases of marked depression. It is also recommended that hypericum should not be combined with a prescribed antidepressant, especially MOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) like Nardil (phenelzine sulfate) or Parnate (tranylcypromine sulfate). more...

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