That didn't make the claims untrue, simply unproven. That same year, more than a dozen medical studies on the effect of hypericum on depression were reaching completion. In addition, hypericum had virtually none of the negative side effects often associated with antidepressant medication. Extracts of the plant are inexpensive and available without a prescription. Hypericum has fewer side effects than aspirin.
Treatment costs about twenty-five cents a day.
I have been impressed with the potential of the compound as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of mild to moderate depressive illnesses, the kind of depressions that predominate in outpatient medical practices. . . . One major difference is that with hypericum side effects are rarely observed. Hypericum's effectiveness in treating depression comes as good news to the mental health community. Physicians and therapists have a new tool to help patients, especially those who have not been helped by current antidepressant medications. Traditionally, the health professional is an adjunct to the health care and preventative medicine practiced daily by the patient.