I have seasonal affective disoder and have take SJW over 2 winters. The first winter, I didn't get a depression; but the second one, I did. With any other anti depressant I would have increased the dosage at that point, but I was unsure of the maximum dosage for SJW, so I came off it and onto a more conventional anti depressant which I have been on (once I got the right combination and dose) for over a year now. I think once I come off these pills I will try SJW again. Does anyone have any info about dosage above the standard dose.

One note of caution is that SJW seems to make your liver work more efficiently, so if you are taking any other medication you may need a higher dose whilst on SJW.

Kendall wrote: "Temporary depression from a loss. a death, or a divorce, is one thing, but, clinical depression is forever. Therapy is useless because it is caused by a chemical imbalance. (Not enough seratonin) Some sort of pill to correct that imbalance is required, probably forever. "

I disagree with this. For one thing, clinical depression can often be triggered by one of the stressful events you mentioned above. There is no real seperation between reactive and biological depression. Most people with depression will have some form of biological tendency towards it as well as circumstances which both trigger and maintain the illness. There is little evidence that having a strong inherited component makes you unsuitable for therapy (cognitive behaviour therapy being the most successful). Therapy can change the way you think about things, and can therefore change your brain chemistry. Likewise, someone whose depression is mainly a reaction to the situation they are in can also respond well to anti-depressants - which may enable them to deal better with the situation and change it (and themselves) for the better.

Bagpuss