An Update on the St. John's Wort Experiment

For those of you who haven't heard, I have spent the past month taking St. John's wort, an herbal dietary supplement, in the doses for which it is used to treat mild depression to see if I could induce in myself an ever-euphoric mood. If I could summarize the results of this experiment in two words they would be "epic fail." While I recorded a significant increase in mood during the third and fourth weeks of the experiment, it was not worth the side effects, which included skin that can be burnt with only a few minutes of moderate sun exposure, decreased complexion beauty, and increased anxiety. 

One of the top five Knopp family values transmitted to me as I was growing up was "sunburns will be the death of you." Thus, when I got my sunburn on just an average day, I knew something was up. Worse yet, I was more irritable about the subject than I usually would be because of my increased anxiety. To be fair, it is not possible for me to know if these symptoms were the effects of St. John's wort, but since they were extremely unusual, I think I can assert these claims with some assurance. 

Anyway, to those who say "I told you so" about this experiment, I'll just respond that knowing is better than not knowing. Now, I'll never have to wonder if I could have lived life on an untamable high without the use of illegal drugs. But, needless to say, I'm not taking St. John's wort anymore.