What are the long-term effects?
Obviously, you will turn into Kermit the Frog if you take St. John's Wort for too long. Yes, okay, so I am kidding!

What are the long-term effects of taking St. John's Wort? I don't really know, and I don't think anyone does. If anything, you have to ask people who've taken it for a long time, like me.

It's spring 2004 as I write this, and I've been taking the 'wort since the beginning of 1997. That's seven years. I've stopped taking it from time-to-time based on different events in my life. The longest stretch I went without it was over a year, while I was backpacking across India and Southeast Asia. With the added sunlight found in the tropics and a more active lifestyle, I honestly didn't need it. Not long after returning to Canada, during the long-cold-dark winters we have here, I had to start taking it again. Sometimes, it's a fact of life.

Countless millions of people take St. John's Wort everyday. Things have really changed since the days in 1996 and 1997, when I couldn't find more than handful of people across the Internet who could offer up their experiences. Now there are thousands of posts in my discussion forum and many of the people there know more about SJW and depression than I do. I'm just a lonely guy who created this site as a public service; now tens of millions of people have stopped by.

Really, how long you take St. John's Wort may come down to one of two things:

"When should I stop taking an anti-depressant?"

The answer is that only you (and maybe your doctor) will know. I have a psychiatrist friend who lives out of town (and who's not aware of my problem) He's a big believer that most people with serious depression should never stop taking their medication - ever. The reason being is related to the cause -- depression is a serious disease and a medical condition that doesn't just go away. But for many of us, it's just a low period in our life, a combination of a lack of sunlight, stressful work, not enough sleep, a lack of exercise... and countless other things, all rolled into one.

As I said before, I've stopped taking SJW for months at a time... and even more than a year at a time, and felt great. But then things changed, and I moved back to the northern country of Canada in the dark, cold winter, where a lack of sunlight can cause depression once again. I don't know what else to say. I've written a book, and though it's not about depression you can still see some of the patterns of my life and my depression throughout it. Now if I could only figure out how to get it published...

Clinical Depression, or what?
I've had a number of people ask me recently whether they should take St. John's Wort because they currently are feeling depressed, but are not normally depressed nor have they been diagnosed with clinical depression. My answer, with some personal qualification to follow, is generally: no! Please, if this is you I'm not trying to belittle your depressed feelings in any way!! The first step would be to read the detailed information on the Medical Health Net that defines the treatment for Major Depressive Disorder. They have a link to the definition of what this is per the American Psychiatric Association that I've included here as well. I think it's fair to say that St. John's Wort should be used where your doctor would normally prescribe, say, Prozac or any other SSRI.

[philosophical mode, on] You may be surprised at this, but I believe in some moderation that depression can be a healthy thing, in that it is a part of life and can help people with their own introspection and personal growth. Hell, I think I once used to *like* being depressed, can you believe that? I thought it made me more creative. And once upon a time when I was younger it was harmless, and it always passed. But things changed. When you suffer from depression, sometimes you are so far from seeing the light that you don't even know what happiness is anymore. And yet still you are in denial! But for other people, they may be depressed today but do not suffer from depression. Really, even if you're depressed because something terrible has happened in your life it can be very, very *extremely* difficult but for most people these feelings will *eventually* pass. This is not clinical depression, it's just a very sad part of life. [philosophical mode, off]

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