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How to Use a Natural Remedy for Depression
By Penny | December 28, 2007
First, before you do anything else, if you believe you are depressed, see your family practice physician or psychiatrist right away. Don’t try a natural remedy for depression unless you have been professionally diagnosed with this illness. Together, you and your physician will decide the best way to treat your depression. If you would like to try a natural remedy for depression, your physician can advise you of the pros and cons of this approach and provide you with educational reading material about natural remedies for depression.
 St. John’s Wort is the best-known natural remedy for mild to moderate depression. This includes seasonal affective disorder (a form of depression that occurs in the wintery, darker days), anxiety, and insomnia, both of which are associated with depression. St. John’s Wort is a wild-growing plant with orange petals; it also has anti-viral properties. As a natural remedy for depression, it is thought to work the same way that prescription anti-depressant medications called Serotonin Selective Reuptake Inhibitors, or SSRIs work; by elevating the levels of the brain neurotransmitter, serotonin, that governs moods, sleep, appetite and other body functions. Prozac, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, and other SSRIs should never be taken with St. John’s Wort; it is a choice of one over another. You always have a choice. If St. John’s Wort does not work for you, you can try one of the prescription anti-depressants.
Many natural remedies have side effects when combined with other herbs, plants or prescription drugs. St John’s Wort can decrease the effectiveness of oral contraceptives and the AIDS medication Indinvir, and the triptan class of migraine relievers. It can cause miscarriage and uterine bleeding and sensitivity to sunlight.
Other natural remedies for depression that don’t appear to work as well as St. John’s Wort are Valerian root, a natural sleep aid and sedative, soy lecithin, wild oats, and the California poppy. It should be noted that the seeds of the California poppy are not the same as the opium poppy, the seeds that produce the narcotics opium, thebaine, and codeine. The California poppy acts as a mild sedative, relieving the anxiety commonly associated with depression.
Topics: depression |