After feeling very down, so much that I didn&#x27;t felt like myself, I started to experiment with herbal supplements. Valerian to sleep, but my problem wasn&#x27;t lack of sleep. St John&#x27;s Wort for mood, but I didn&#x27;t feel moody.<p>I tried 5-htp, which from my understanding is a precursor to the biosynthesis of Serotonin. The effect was immediate. I felt light headed, buzzed even. I felt as if I had suddenly woken up in a bright new world. I went groceries shopping could barely keep myself from gaping at all the colours, products and people. The next day, those effects were gone but I felt fine. Simply fine. I tried to take more 5-htp, but those strong effects are gone. I am no brain scientist, but to me this is anecdotal evidence that I was very much lacking in Serotonin and that this herbal supplement boosted me right back up.<p>It&#x27;s not magical, I still feel anxious about deadlines and stressed about hard to deal with clients. However, some kind of dark blurry veil has been lifted from my perception of life.<p>Edit: Since then, I increased my weekly physical activities and improved my overall eating habits. I can&#x27;t say if it&#x27;s directly linked with my increase (or rather closer to normal) Serotonin but my instinct says yes.