Teenage depression & St Johns Wort

[WorkingMumD]

I’m putting this up in the hope it will help someone else. My lovely teenage daughter has gone from a sweet smiling thing to a white faced child with anxiety, panic attacks and a really bad attitude to most things. Her teacher commented that he’d not seen her smile for months, her mood was often low & it got me thinking about mild depression. I bought some St Johns Wort,explained to her what it is and we’ve tried her on a half dose. Its amazing. Her smile has returned, she giggles at her dad’s bad jokes and she wants to talk to me. She’s just normal again. She’s not on any other medication and we are watching for any side affects but so far so good. I also watched a great show recently that’s proved that the pill can cause serious depression in young women too. Hormonally driven. I hope this helps spark another thought for the mum of a depressed teenage girl out there...!

[AnotherOriginalUsername]

Is she on the pill? If so you need to be aware that st John's wort can make it ineffective (as well as interacting with a number of other medications)

[twinklylights]

How old is your DD? Was the St Johns wort just the regular stuff you can buy in Holland and Barrett? My 14DD sounds very similar to yours so am very interested.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

It was the pill that got rid of the last bit of depression that the anti-depressants didn’t touch. So it’s not quite as simple as saying the pill causes depressions, it can cure it as well.