Depression affects millions of people around the world. It is considered by experts to be on of the greatest hidden conditions affecting not only the lifestyles of sufferers but also their families, friends and employers. In fact, the condition can last from moments of simply “feeling down” or “a bit blue”, to weeks of worry and complete debilitation.

Depression, What is it?

At its worst, depression is labeled “Clinical depression”. This is best understood as a complete overwhelming emotion of sadness and helplessness. It can also be experienced as a period of utter despair without hope of escape. Sufferers lose the ability to express their feelings at this stage and the spiral continues to draw them into a seemingly endless spiral of fear. In this state, people can lose their appetite, and lose touch with friends and family. Their employment also suffers, and they may be at risk of suicide.
 
In its more minor form depression can be a less intense suffering of the same symptoms or maybe only suffering from on or two symptoms. Nevertheless depression, in any form, is a hidden menace for many people who are not able to deal effectively with their problem because they have difficulty talking about it. They suffer from the feeling of shame and “stupidity” which they attach to their behavior that unfairly keeps this debilitating condition hidden.

Treating Depression With Herbs

Doctors will prescribe a variety of drugs for the depressed patients. Often the side effects of these prescriptions leave the patients with a set of side issues to deal with, such as feelings of sleepiness, lack of clarity or mental focus and loss of libido and appetite. Herbal remedies on the other hand, offer a wonderful alternative that have few if any side effects. Two herbs that have shown great promise are Licorice and St John’s Wort. 

Having its origins in Europe, St. John’s Wort contains the vitally active ingredient called hyperforin. Experts recommend a dosage of 900 – 1800 mg a day with a concentration of 3 per cent. This dosage can be altered in accordance with the severity of the condition and will be adjusted by your naturopath.

Ironically, St John’s Wort is classified as a toxic weed because it adversely affects the central nervous system of some animals.  Although demonstrating this negative affect in animals, it does not affect humans this way in the slightest, and the herb has been effective in the treatment of depression. Studies have shown that it inhibits the release of Serotonin which is the result that traditionally prescribed medications seek to achieve.  Some patients have found this naturally occurring product more acceptable than a drug prescription, and have achieved good results in the treatment of their depression.

Licorice

Licorice has been known for a long time as an effective herbal treatment fro colds, but recently recorded results have shown impressive results in the treatment of depression. Licorice is a natural anti-depressant which contains eight monoamine oxidase inhibitors.

This herb is taken either as a capsule or can be drunk as a tea.  There is one cautionary rider to the use of Licorice. If taken in too large a dose or over a lengthy period, there may be side effects like increased blood pressure, headaches and lethargy. It is recommended that licorice be supplemented with potassium capsules and increased water intake to offset the side effects, but in any case you should only use licorice on the advice of a licensed practitioner.

Herb gardening Is one of the most rewarding pastimes you will begin. I say will begin because by the time you finish reading this you WILL begin! You will need some basic information and knowledge about the herbs you choose to use and grow, but after that the actual process is easy and fast. The best thing is that after you work out what you need to do, it becomes a passion that lasts forever and, even better, it’s a real money saving hobby.

What you Need to Know About Herb Gardening

Basically you need to work out your seasonal needs. Choose the herbs you like or use most often in your cooking. The easiest way is to go to your kitchen shelf and look at what you have accumulated over the past and decide which ones you really use. Then, look up the growing requirements. You can do this on the Internet or go to your local nursery for free tips. Most plants are easy to grow, but will need a little attention and need replanting in spring.

Next you need to learn how to dry your herbs for storage and use during those times when fresh plants are unavailable.  Here are my tips for drying herbs successfully:
• Cut off tops of the leafy varieties in midsummer.
• Hang them up just long enough so that the drops of water can evaporate.
• Wash them off with cold water.
• Tie them with string, binding them quite tightly at the end of the stalk.
• Place them in a paper bag with the stem ends at the opening, and then close the bag with a rubber band.
• Then you need to use a paper clip as a sort of hook through the band and then place the other hooked end over your line where you are going to hang the herbs to actually dry.
• Wait for a couple of weeks, to ensure they have dried out completely.
• Remove them from the paper bags, and then crumble the leaves and place them on a shallow pan and dry them out in the oven – just make sure that the oven is not set to be too hot, because you can burn them, and you certainly do not want to do this.

A lot of herb gardening enthusiasts prefer to use the open air as their preferred way to dry herbs. This method however can be messy as insects can interfere with the drying plans and get caught up and become part of your larder! If you are careful and pick them out it may be OK. My view is that open air drying is unnecessary and does not yield better results at all.

When you are looking for the best places to obtain your vitamin and herbs supplies, you should be careful to ensure that you are getting the best information. Unfortunately, there are a lot of so called experts that do not have either the experience or qualifications to even begin to give you the best advice. Generally however, there will be evidence of their qualifications somewhere in the premises that will give you some assurance that you are in the hands of a professional. Another word of caution here, if the qualification is on display, read it with a little more care. I have visited some businesses that have created these themselves. Usually it is easy to pick the dubious ones and you will get a vibe about their bona fides.
 
Where to go to get Vitamin and Herbs

There are plenty of online suppliers. One of the best and one that I use frequently is the The Vitamin Shoppe, an online specialist. They are a company which has an incredibly dedicated team of workers, and one that truly and earnestly strives to their best to offer you the highest quality products and efficient service that is possible.

This does not mean that you should take my word for it. I always recommend that you visit some local businesses in your area and get some good advice first. I continually find that the information you get changes from place to place. Unfortunately there is no definitive answer as to what is the best, but I subscribe to a few newsletters that keep me up to date and enable me to reassess my position. I don’t know how many times I’ve tried a product only to be disappointed with the results. Here are my tips on choosing the best vitamin and herbs products:
• Avoid recommendations that promise the world. It’s the old snake oil approach that really annoys me and my rule of thumb is that if it sounds too good to be true, then it will be.
• Avoid claims that this or that will “cure” something. As far as I know there are no easy cures or else it would be on every news and radio bulletin in the country.
• Avoid high priced items. My reason for this is that the high price is usually coupled with a high promise as mentioned above. My view is that it will be a high priced con.

It is an unfortunate fact that a lot of the best people work in stores or businesses that give the best advice but also charge the most for the products they recommend. My view on this is to get the information about what you need first, and then check out online suppliers to compare prices. As a courtesy to the expert you have found ring them and tell them you have found the product cheaper and would they be willing to match the price. Nine time out of ten they will agree and you will have the best of both worlds.