Depression: it figures

Here are some figures that can really give you the blues: The latest National Institutes of Health survey says that about 6.6 percent of Americans, or 13 to 14 million people, suffer from serious depression within the year, at a cost in lost productive time of $44 billion (that's $31 billion more than the total amount lost because of non-depression related illness).

The causes of depression are many, but perhaps the sheer cost of anti-depression medication is one of them. And since it takes at least fourteen days for an anti-depression pill to kick in, you have to be on the medication at least a month to see any results. So what's the alternative? Maybe in some of those and easily afforded old herbal remedies that have been around-and probably around your medicine shelf-for a long time. Top of the list is St John's wort, (or, as you might prefer to call it, Hypericum perforatum). St John's wort has been the subject of some controlled scientific studies on just how effective an anti-depressant it is. One more such study, a $4 million effort, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, is now underway, considering the herb's effect in mind depression.

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