St Johns Wort

In deciding whether to try St. John's wort to treat my depression, I skimmed through a lot of books about it and read three, and I liked this book the best. I appreciate that, although Dr. Cass seems to prefer alternative treatments for depression--including St. John's wort and megadoses of vitamins and minerals--she is not ideologically opposed to conventional antidepressants, which she also prescribes, and so she is able to offer helpful comments on the relative merits and appropriate roles of St. John's wort and conventional antidepressants. The book includes chapters on what depression is, what St. John's wort is, how to use it, the evidence for its efficacy, conventional antidepressants, nutrition, and other elements of a depression-free lifestyle.

Other recommendations on depression: Richard O'Connor's Undoing Depression, John and Andrea Nelson's Sacred Sorrows, and William Appleton's Prozac and the New Antidepressants.

In trying to decide whether and how to use St. John's wort to treat my depression, I read three books on it and skimmed several others, and I liked this book the best. I appreciated that, while Dr. Cass seems to prefer alternative treatments for depression--including St. John's wort and megadoses of vitamins and minerals--she is trained in conventional psychiatry and is not ideologically opposed to prescription antidepressants, which she also uses in her clinical practice, and so she is able to offer helpful comments on the relative merits and appropriate roles of St. John's wort and prescription antidepressants. The book includes chapters on what depression is, what St. John's wort is, how to use St. John's wort, the evidence for its effectiveness, prescription antidepressants, nutrition, and other aspects of a depression-free lifestyle.

(Incidentally, St. John's wort helped me sleep much more soundly, which was lovely, but I'm not sure it helped my depression much.)

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