How effective is St Johns Wort for mild depresson?

[Tahlulla]

i would appreciate anyones experience of taking St Johns Wort, i think i have mild depression but i dont want to go down the antidepressant road? thanks

Honeyd - bear with it - it can take a good few weeks for the side effects to settle down. And you might even need to try a couple of different ones until you find one that suits you. If it's just your sleep that's affected though, you're probably better off carrying on with the one you're on and give it a another week or so for it to kick in properly.
Then you will probably start noticing a real difference, get more energy etc.

Tahlulla - SJW is only affective on very mild depression, but worth giving a go. I agree - best to get on internet as it's much cheaper and you can get a higher dose than just going to Holland and Barratt.
Sounds like you do have a lot on your plate though, so definitely sounds like it would be worth seeing a counsellor if you can. The doc should refer to see one, but they only offer CBT on the NHS (which isn't always what you need) and it can take anything from a few weeks to nearly a year on the waiting list to actually get to see someone.
If you can afford it, pay for a few sessions privately instead. They usually charge around £50 an hour - have a look on the bacp website to find someone in your area who tackes your symptoms (stress, anxiety etc).
Good luck!

How did you get on Tahlulla?
Thanks for the advice RW, i will stick with it, back at docs in a few weeks anyway, hes been really supportive which is a great help x

thanks all !! went to the docs yesterday and she prescriped Citalopram 20mg, really not sure about taking them, i know there are some horrible side affects and you need to stick with it to feel any benifit, took my 1st one yesterday and felt really spaced out !! im seriously thinking about the SJW route before i continue down this route.

It's worth bearing in mind that SJW has possible side effects as well.

When we're talking about 900mg daily (0.3%hypericin or 5% hyperforin if you prefer, which is the most commonly assessed dose, they include:

photosensitisation, gastrointestinal symptoms, fatigue and mania.

There is also not a lot of safety data for use dring pregnancy/breast feeding.

And the adverse interactions list is extensive.

But it does appear to be similar in effetiveness to synthetic anti-depressants for mild/moderate depression.