St. John’s Wort

I have had good experiences with St. John’s wort for mild or moderate depression. It was already used in Europe in the Middle Ages for mental health isues such as “melancholy”, but also against the devil, as mental illness was often interpreted as possession.

St. John’s wort contains the active ingredient “hyperforin”, which has a simultaneous effect on five neurotransmitters in the brain. Hyperforin inhibits the reuptake of serotonin, noradrealin, dopamine, gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA) and L-glutamate. All five messenger substances can be associated with depression. St. John’s wort basically has the same effect as synthetic antidepressants, as it increases the concentration of neurotransmitters in the brain. However, different synthetic antidepressants affect different numbers of neurotransmitters, while St. John’s wort affects all five of the above at the same time.

St. John’s wort can therefore be an effective herbal alternative to synthetic antidepressants. However, it takes one to two weeks of regular use to notice an effect, so St. John’s wort does not work immediately like other herbs or medicines. If you stop taking St. John’s wort, the effect will eventually wear off again. In Germany, St. John’s wort is available without a prescription in drugstores and pharmacies in the form of tablets, capsules and tea. Whether you take capsules or infuse tea every day is a question of taste, but tablets or capsules contain more active ingredient than infused tea. The question is therefore also whether a daily cup of St. John’s wort tea achieves the required effect.

Therapists who offer the Breuß massage like to use the red oil obtained from St. John’s wort. When the yellow St. John’s wort flowers are rubbed with the fingers, a juice containing hypericin is released, which colors the juice red. This is why St. John’s wort is also called “blood wart” or “St. John’s blood” in some regions in Germany.

Attention:

In Germany you can buy it in drugstores with an active ingredient dose of up to 1 g per dose. Higher doses are only available from pharmacies. This is because taking St. John’s wort reduces the effectiveness of the active ingredients in other medicines. St. John’s wort stimulates degradation enzymes in the liver which break down the active ingredients of medicines and thus render them ineffective. I therefore only recommend taking St. John’s wort if no other medication is being taken. This also applies if a woman is “only” taking the contraceptive pill. I personally once talked a woman (who was not my patient) who became unintentionally pregnant while taking St. John’s wort and the contraceptive pill at the same time.

Taking St. John’s wort also increases the skin’s sensitivity to light. If you are taking St. John’s wort, you should avoid going to the sunbed and stop taking St. John’s wort at least 2 weeks before your next visit to the sunbed. If you want to take St. John’s wort in summer, you should make sure that you use a high sun protection factor and be careful when sunbathing.

Caution: If you are suffering from severe depression or even have suicidal thoughts, you should seek professional help as soon as possible.

Check the internet for free telephone counselling hotlines in your country when you need help in a crisis.

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