Reddit mentions of Nature's Way Perika St. John’s Wort, 60 Tablets, Pack of 2

>I've never taken any medications for my depression, largely because of the nature of the condition and my opinion that it's a rational reaction to my experiences

Maybe. And I get where you're coming from, I know that feeling, but most depression actually results in large part from really irrational thoughts that you get used to thinking of as rational.

moodgym.org is a bit ugly and dated looking, but it's a pretty useful tool for learning some of the basics of CBT (scientifically shown to help with depression). The first lesson is a good intro to what I'm talking about above.

Also, not sure how you feel about it given the above, but St. John's Wort has been shown in more than one peer-reviewed study to be as effective as mainstream anti-depressants.

I've tried 5htp as well, the SJW has more of a subtle effect at first. In my opinion, the 5htp was sort of like a little boost everytime I took it whereas the SJW builds up in your system (It's essentially a natural SSRI) and slowly raises your serotonin levels overtime.

Where I got mine. It's pretty cheap

Try some Perika St. John's Wort, it has worked well for me as an antidepressant and has a novel method of action as compared to SSRIs. It upregulates some 5ht receptors unlike typical SSRIs which do the opposite. I have only been taking it a few weeks but I suspect it might potentiate MDMA and other serotonergic drugs through the receptor upregulation. 5-htp and green tea extract works well for preventing the 'day of the dead'.

I think other people have touched on the importance of aerobic exercise, healthy diet, and enough sleep. I want to stress meditation, and St John's Wort.

For myself, chronic stress first lowers my anxiety threshold, then it then I start to gain weight, feel depressed, and anhedonic. Meditation blunts the body's hyper-arousal response to stress, and develops a new relationship between your mind and stressful situations. Since you have time off, I REALLY recommend attending a 10 day Vipassana retreat. Check out their schedule and structure and decide if attending would be right for you (https://www.dhamma.org/en-US/index). It's completely free and they provide room and board. After completing my first Vipassana meditation course, I had felt like I finished spiritual and emotional surgery on myself. I also felt like I had the strength to take back my life after an incredibly tough year (full time job, full time master's program at school, along with family and relationship troubles). 2 years later, I can say that I did. A Vipassana meditation practice was an instrumental part of it.

If you're also feeling down, consider trying St John's Wort if you're not taking any other medications that would interact with it like birth control or anything else metabolized by the liver. Consult a CVS pharmacist to make sure for free. After taking it for 5 weeks, I began to wake up in the morning actually feeling 10 pounds lighter. I had no idea I was carrying so much weight. It was the depression and negativity lifting. With St John's Wort, my first thought of the day switched from something like "fuck... not another day of this shit" to something neutral like "huh..... I wonder how the covers got that way." If you wanna try it, don't waste your time with anything except Perika brand. It's pharmaceutical quality.

Scientific Studies

Where to get Perika Brand St John's Wort


Best of luck to you! Let me know if you have other questions.

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Perika-Johns-Tablets/dp/B001E0YF2Y/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1458305504&sr=8-1&keywords=perika+st+johns+wort

I like St. John's Wort. This brand is good: https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Perika-Johns-Tablets/dp/B001E0YF2Y/

It's a mild MAOI, so it will increase your dopamine levels. It helps me focus.

Ride your bike in the sunlight and do body weight exercises. Stick to a sleep schedule and eating schedule. Structure does wonders for depression.