The single best antidepressant mixture I have devised yet is this.

1 handful b. caapi leaves
1 tea bag Yerbe Mata
1 tea bag Coco Mata

I put the caapi leaves in a tea pot and boil for a few minutes. I then filter the caapi leaf water into a cup with the coco and yerbe tea bags. I need to get some tea bags for the caapi as well and then I can just make tea. Gonna order them now actually.

Why this works?

Obviously caapi is helping with the brains serotonin health, but the 11 or so different alkaloids in the coca plant have various properties as well. One of them being that cocaine is sort of the SSRI of the dopamine/norepniephrine world. So your brain gets a pretty solid boost of it's core neurotransmitters. Yerbe Mata has a little bit of caffiene which helps to kick eh brains dopamine/norepinephrine system into gear....while the cocain helps it stay in gear.

This mixture puts me in a highly motivated, focused, calm state of mind.

I take this mixture for work a few times a week.

It surprises me that Peganum harmala (Syrian Rue) has only received passing reference in this thread. P. harmala has a storied ethnobotanical use among the peoples of the Middle East, Mediterranean Europe, and North Africa. Traditionally, use of the Syrian Rue seeds was to counteract casting of the Evil Eye. Local beliefs upheld that the effects of being looked upon by the Evil Eye were symptoms synonymous with depression.

I've been planning on testing harmel seeds with LOW doses of Morning Glory seeds. Morning Glory seeds at low doses should hypothetically cause threshold euphoria (75-100 seeds). I would limit the Convolvulacean "happy-plants" to only Ipomoea or Rivea. Hawaiian Baby Woodrose Seeds are TOO potent. (This may prove untrue if one obtains a weaker variety)

In the next few months I plan on documenting my personal use of the above combination, so be on the look-out for my write-up.

..good point DebajoDeLaLuna..the idea of the thread was for different nexians to nominate good candidates, and pool the growing collective knowledge, so thank you, and look forward to hearing of your work with it..
..i've come across various middle-eastern medicinal and ritual uses of P. harmala, certainly the tea is sedative and has the right sort of alkaloids..it also has vascine, absent from caapi..it would be good to compare the two in micro-dosing..
.

I don't believe anyone's mentioned Kanna (Sceletium tortuosum) yet.
It's a South african plant that is a natural source of SSRI's (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors)
SSRI's are known to have anti-depressant effects making the amount of Serotonin in the brain rise.

I bought a little bag of Kanna powder once. I think it was just pulverised plant. I took
little pinkies of it throughout the day. It produced a very warm, joyfull kind of mood.
Made me rather giddy, prone to laugh. Felt emotionally light and elevated.
Allthough subtile, very definite effects.

It being wintertime again I could use some anti-depressants too. Might pick up some Kanna soon.
Would also be very worthwhile to grow.

..thank you SKA, i'd completely overlooked this plant..hmm, contains Mesembrine.. it's added to the list (p2) ..
some good info. on it here: http://www.sceletium.org/
.
[EDIT: and thanks joedirt for the above formulation..]

..it seems the orthodox pharmaceutical world may be ahead of the herbal world in terms of skin-applied anti-depressants..from http://www.cnsspectrums.com/asp...tail.aspx?articleid=1791

..further experimentation in skin based delivery of anti-depressant plant extracts (perhaps with DMSO or nitrogen mustards) may also improve our ability to create skin-absorbed entheogens, something only isolated success has ever been achieved in..
.

nen888 wrote:
..further experimentation in skin based delivery of anti-depressant plant extracts (perhaps with DMSO or nitrogen mustards) may also improve our ability to create skin-absorbed entheogens, something only isolated success has ever been achieved in..

---

Nitrogen mustards????? (shudder) no way would I ever use that as a delivery facilitator, cytotoxity and chemical warfare spring to mind.

Wouldn't sublingual Salvia divinorum be classed as a type of skin absorbation? ( mucous membrane )

Massage oils infused with Hypericum perforatum have been in use since antiquity. The aromatherapy practice of essential oils relys also on skin, anally administered routes.

..get out your gas masks! ha, ha..no, i didn't mean 'mustrad gas' (chlorine), but the so-called Chinese 'nitrogen-mustards' which can allow compounds to be directly absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream..other substances which do this include DMSO (dimethyl-sulfoxide) and oil of Wintergreen..
there was a little experimentation in the '90s making entheogenic 'salves' or 'flying ointments' using the above mixed with DMT etc, but no one could get really strong effects..different carriers have different efficiency in carrying things through the skin..
certainly, mild or 'buzzy' effects have been achieved by mixing DMT with DMSO and rubbing on the skin..but i don't think much experimentation has actually been done..
tropane alkaloids are the most easily skin-absorbed, but are obviously a lot more toxic than DMT, LSA etc..
.

http://blog.ecu.edu/site...-as-Antidepressants.pdf


I found this article rather interesting although strictly speaking, we are probably talking about agents which may not be wholly plant-derived.The hazards of this class of compound is well-known, but undoubtedly they do have significant mood-elevating effects.At least in the short-term......

It is mushroom season here with me.

And i have started experimenting with myself, as i suffer melancholy and depression often.

i have never tried medication for this.


BUT i have started dosing myself on 100mg of dried psilocybin mushroom after waking up.

AND it works perfect.

Elevated mood, energy, i feel present, clear head, tuned in, witty, feel really goood.

***
it took a week for the effects to last all day, every day.

I chew and suck the shroomfor 5-10 mins before swallowing.

I found that 100mg is fine, 300mg gets me real happy all day joking around with any one LOL.

I notice my body temperature raises.

NOTE this 100mg dose is barely a cap of a small bullet mushroom.

I am a little sensitive to mushrooms, after taking a very large dose a few years back in-midst of a health binge. Harry hero.

It takes a gram (1000mg) usually for me to start tripping.

It is a miracle.

I am writing again and not slouching around, praise....the fungi God

Have you noticed any kind of tolerance build up from the daily dosing or does 100mg daily seem pretty effective no matter the dosing frequency?

I did it for 2 1/2 weeks and it worked better over time, less bothered me.
The first 4 days i had moments of mundane creep in but i shook them off.

I stopped for 4 days, and when i re-dosed with the 100mg it was like taking 300mg?

Does any one know if Mushrooms are addictive in any way?

i felt pretty good the 4 days without mushroom. No craving at all, i had shrooms in case.


**I read an article about in Europe; they have had trials with psilocin mushrooms, on regular people, and up two one year later some of the patients were still mentally effected in a 'Very Positive Direction'.

^..psilocybin was recently legally trialed and found to be very successful in post-traumatic stress disorder..because past methods weren't working..e.g. the us army psychiatrist treating soldiers returned from Iraq for post-traumatic stress..he became so disturbed he opened fire on a dozen people in the army hospital base!

..as decreasing light can increase feelings of depression, i've bumped this thread for those heading into the colder seasons..to help warm you up..i'd better find some new info to add, i guess..

thanks all the great contributors in the thread..!
some great people in here..
.

ps. for when it gets warmer again..i find looking at Sunflowers makes me less depressed most days..nice cooking oil too..

Sidefx, are you still taking the 100mg daily dose of mushrooms?

I don't know if shrooms daily Is so good. dmt or huasca sure, even salvia, but I'm not sure about shrooms, hmm.

Awesome Thread! Cheered me up . I Love Magnolias. I have a variety growing called 'Starwarsica'. It's flowers look like one of those space ships in the original film! Kava good for stress and anxiety. Though, not needed daily. Maybe every few if you're tense.

..from a plant shop..
..i'm glad the pic of sunflower-man finally uploaded properly..the force is with him!
magnolias..mmm...tea gardens...
.

Does anyone else (other than SKA) have experience with Kanna? I'm curious and haven't tried it.

Star Wars flower>

Browsed through this and definitely some great info.

I had seen Aswagandha, but did not see this combo of 3 that i came across a while back but this thread reminded me of it.

Three natural herbs that work together to aid your body's natural defense against anxiety. Ashwagandha, L-Theanine and Passion Flower have been clinically proven to boost GABA and serotonin levels in the human body. The result? You're more relaxed. Worries don't seem as big. Anxiety disappears. And over time,they help to calm your body's natural response to anxiety so you can feel like yourself again.

Studies have shown that these natural ingredients can stimulate the production of GABA and serotonin in your body so worry goes away and you feel calm and anxiety-free.

Ive been using turmeric & black pepper daily for a few weeks now, and noticed positive improvements in coping with depression. IIRC it has maoi properties, which might be mediating the affects. Its also a nice gentle stimulant that has allowed me to cut back my caffeine usage considerably.

Kratom in low doses can help as well, but i wont advocate using it long term, or every day. Though i did try just that (everyday microdosing of ~30mg 30x full spectrum extract) this summer for a few weeks. It worked rather well, up until it turned into recreational usage, and it lost its efficacy at helping with depression, and after a few weeks of abuse i felt pretty terrible & depressed.

I think one thing i learned this summer, for me personally at least, is a proper diet, regular exercise, and not tripping as frequently as i had been is very important. Psychedelics can help, but like kratom in a way, for me, it just turned into self medicating away the symptoms, and abuse. though to each his own.

Lemon balm tea helped as well, you just have to be careful, imho it numbed the emotional pain being a gabergic (though one of the safest gabergics imho). Sedatives never really helped in the long run ime, i think it just masked the symptoms and then lost efficacy at doing that. Lord knows the damage i could have done if i used benzos or alcohol/potent physically addictive gabergics like that.

Since winters rolled in, i started vitamin d 4000iu daily with a multi vitamin and ~1g each of ground turmeric/pepper on my eggs every day, and am being kept very busy with training at work for an assistant dept manager position. I think enjoying my job, compared to loathing the dept i transferred from really has helped. Keeping busy doing things you enjoy is wonderful as far as depression imho. The supplements help, but i think that was the important factor in makings some progress as far as my depression.

Finally, mega doses of magnesium citrate (generic natural calm) can really help get you out of a funky mood. It doesn't do much if i use i daily, but as necessary its fairly effective i prob do this 2-4 a month @ about a gram of magnesium (not including the citric acid its bonded to). Could possibly have something to do with nmda, and it being a slight dissociative. Cats claw can offer something like this as well ime.

Like how ketamine can offer relief from depression, though like mdma, i don't think you should try that unless working with a professional. Abuse of those two from self medication can be disastrous for depression.

Kanna sounds interesting, especially considering its PDE4 inhibition properties as well as being a ssri. Both have been postulated to help w/ depression. I used it a few times as i heard it snergized well with cnnabis, but never for depression. Might have to give it another go someday.

One i forgot to mention was harmalas from rue. In low doses it helps, but for me it induced anxiety on a consistent basis when taken @30mg daily. If it wasnt for that i't would be much more useful for my depression.

A good thread with a lot of helpful information. Still, i would like to encourage you to go a bit more into detail. There are tons of plants out there that have *some* anti-depressant effects but also have sideeffects or are simply too weak for a real depression. I believe that some of these plants do help to better your mood, but do they really help someone who has trouble unloading the dishwasher because everything feels so confusing, not worth it etc ?

Cacao Beans
..were mood elevating for me and a bit anti-depressant. I think they're anti-depressant because the good mood motivates you somehow to do more things. Unfortunatly, i've been getting weird sideeffects now.

Caapi microdose
I've started this several times. It feels a bit anti-depressant for me, a bit mood elevating, a bit anxiolytic and a bit psychedelic - but makes me feel dizzy and tired at times. Also not strong enough. But a good allrounder.

Ayahuasca brews
Anti-depressant effect for around a weeks or so, if the trip was good. The same is true for many psychedelics.

Kanna
Improves ones mood, but makes one also feel "high" in a strange way.

Kava
Scientific Studies:

Sarris, J., et al. "The Kava Anxiety Depression Spectrum Study (KADSS): a randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial using an aqueous extract of Piper methysticum." Psychopharmacology 205.3 (2009): 399-407.



My experience: Intensely anxiolytic but not anti-depressant. Ernst, Edzard (see below) writes in his review that there is only evidence for anxiolytic effects of kava. I would speculate that antidepressive effects are only measurable if the patients depression is strongly linked to his anxiety.

Passionflower
Makes me feel tired.

Blue Lotus
Produces a uncomfortable high for me.

Best anti-depressant effects were noticed with ketamine, but the aftereffects were horrible. I would like to learn more about salvia dosage.

Other interesting papers:

Ernst, Edzard. "Herbal remedies for depression and anxiety." Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 13.4 (2007): 312-316.



Jorm, Anthony F., et al. "Effectiveness of complementary and self-help treatments for depression." Medical Journal of Australia 176.10 (2002): S84.