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Beating the Blues with St. John's Wort

© Christine Traxler

I live in a northern climate and this time of year we can't help but notice that the days are gradually shortening. As beautiful as autumn can be, there are those of us who can't seem to enjoy the season that others savor. For us, autumn is when the "blues" set in. I've decided it's a brain chemistry thing - the lack of long daylight hours triggers a reaction that probably only wintering in Tahiti would really cure. And it's not just me. The number of office visits from patients to my clinic with depressive symptoms increases dramatically with the coming of fall.

Traditionally, I've handed out Prozac like candy knowing that, as a serotonin-reuptake inhibitor, it can increase the brain stores of serotonin and reverse some of the patient's depressive symptoms in the process. Not all of my patients are so thrilled by the idea of taking a "psychiatric medication" and I guess I don't blame them. Not everyone needs to take a potent anti-depressant for what is most likely a temporary case of winter blues. Similarly, patients with only mild symptoms, regardless of the time of year don't want to be labeled as "mentally ill" by taking an anti-depressant.

Enter St. John's Wort, an herbal product enjoying widespread use in Europe for the treatment of mild depressive symptoms. The Germans particularly have studied St. John's Wort extensively and, based on many studies, there seems to be little doubt about its effectiveness in mild depression.

Volumes of books on St. John's Wort are available at nearly every local bookstore so I'll just highlight the basic facts about the herb and how it works. Head to the bookstore if you need to read more.

St. John's Wort is a wild shrub that grows world-wide as a weed. It has its medicinal origins in ancient Greece where it was believed to repel evil spirits. Scientists have since discovered that the above-ground parts contain a number of oily substances, primarily hypericin, pseudo-hypericin, bioflavones and hyperforin. Extracts of St. John's Wort are standardized by their concentration of hypericin even though it is not completely clear that it is the hypericin that gives the herb its anti-depressive properties. In fact, it is the hyperforin substance that has been found to be a serotonin-reuptake inhibitor, the very same property that gives drugs like Prozac and Zoloft their activity against depression.

Preparations of St. John's Wort are often mixed with other mood-relaxing herbs such as kava, valerian root and ginseng, as well as with 5-hydroxy tryptophan. The combinations are believed to increase the total effectiveness of the preparation but I haven't seen any proof of that.

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