Jay Simpson mentioned she heard that St. John's Wort is used in Germany as
a depressive.
I'll assume (see my post from 9 July) that this is Germany's Johanniskraut.
 (Please, due to  translation problems, add the Latin name to the American
folk name!)  Apparently there was a published study  in 1993 that shows St.
John's is helpful in treating light to middle depressions.  It is as good
as synthetic medicaments, but without their sometimes bad contraindications
and with no risk of dependency.  just remember that it can take weeks for
the Wort to take effect.   And avoid the sun during the treatment.  

Hope that helps,
Anne Kaeser, IBCLC 
Germany