Hey jpgvm, I've had depression ever since I hit puberty; and before, during, and after that: social anxiety. I've avoided anti-depressants for the first ~30+ ye

Hey jpgvm, I've had depression ever since I hit puberty; and before, during, and after that: social anxiety. I've avoided anti-depressants for the first ~30+ years of my life. Eventually I decided I needed to try something, but wasn't ready for SSRI's and the bimodal data behind it. So about a year ago I decided to try St. John's Wort, which you can purchase without a prescription (in the USA). It can help manage mild-moderate depression per the literature, and per my experience. It took six weeks before I felt a difference, and since then the part of me that wants to lay in bed and shut out the world, or distract myself through hours of living through other people's lives (reddit, HN, twitch, etc) has 'grown up'. I've only had couple days over the last year where the old me threw its weight onto my back, but the next day I was back to normal. St. John's Wort doesn't come without caveats. You need take your dosage 3 times a day (with each meal). If you don't, you'll likely wont be able to drink alcohol for awhile (stomachaches), and the wort may be less effective. It also interacts negatively with a lot of other drugs (check online). I take 300mg extract (0.3% Hypericins) 3 times a day.