Very Dear Sir,

  It grieves me to see the mental anguish you are expressing here! ; and while I recognize I that I am quite impotent to assuage this, I can do one thing : relieve you of your erroneous notion about Wormwood. What are my credentials?  30 years of living with an intense case of Crohn's disease ; and without boring you as to the details, it is through the judicious use of dietary restraint, fasting, homeopathy, exercise, meditation, and herbalism, that I not only have kept my intestines ( and my life - unlike many of my intestinally challenged  colleagues who are now dead from the strange effects of 'immune-system modulating' drugs like Remicade,Enbral,Methotrexate, and Humira), but live an active mostly enjoyable life.  What does this have to do with wormwood, you might wonder?Well, since reading on a blog about German Pharmaceutical research that DE CLAREd the herb promising in use of Crohn's management approximately 8-9 years ago, I have employed it (along with Red Clover, Slippery Elm, Goldenseal, Licorice, Mashmallow, Alfalfa, Cabbage, Yellow Dock, Cascara Sagrada, and Garlic) frequently to repair damge from my illness, (or in the case of Wormwood -attack my disease). How have I done this? - drinking Wormwood tea on an empty stomach in the morning every day of the week for usually 3-6 weeks to stifle my illness.  How do I make my tea?  1/2 teaspoon of dried Wormwood herb steeped in 6 ounces hot water for 5-10 minutes, filtered, and then drunken.  (The approximate pharmaceutical equivalent of at least 1 x500mg capsules - I surmise)When do I decide to use this course of treatment? - When I find , that in spite of all my other efforts, I can't control my inflammation without resorting to small doses of prednisone (also an 'immune-system-modulator' though nearly a century old now, and more efficacious than the newer at very sporadic micro-dose levels, and therefore less problematic longterm.)  That said : I regard prednisone as a last resort, because it, as well as the other drugs mentioned, are why people suffering with my illness oft die early from the side-effects of trying to cope with the disease.

  My observations?  Wormwood is the victim of modern medical esatablishment wive's tales, for all around one reads about the 'dehabilitating effects on the mind of it ; which is ridiculous nonsense in my now very considerable experience. Can you be poisoned with Wormwood?  Of course, just as you can be poisoned by eating too many ham sandwiches daily - ending up with all sorts of terrible conditions.  Hippocrates said something to the effect of : 'All things are poison, it's the amount that is critical.'  For that reason, I bring your attention to the fact that you ARE NOT suffering the irreversible side-effects of Wormwood.Whatever you are suffering, it is coming from some other substance, or some unfortunate mixture of substances... NOT WORMWOOD ; for the amount you took is incredibly miniscule compared to what I have taken. 

What side-effects have I experience with my Wormwood consumption?  Nothing negative mentally - as being an author, and classical musician, I am robust mentlally, and far from unenthusiastic.  As to the physical : the side-effects of Wormwood have been for me the repeated short term remissions of my illness - without having to rely upon the drugs I have already mentioned ;- not to speak of the savings of energy, time, and money, traipsing back and forth to the office of a gastro-enterologist ; any one of whom, by the way, will conduct a hundred procedures on you, and never once confess that they have no way to put Crohn's disease in remission without seriously compromising one's health!  Also, people overdo the 'Wormwood is good against parasites, and getting rid of parasites helps Crohn's Disease argument, for I have clearly experienced that something else about Wormwood dismays Crohn's Disease - not just the killing of parasites, which Wormwood most assuredly does.

My recommendation for someone wishing to use Wormwood?  Use very small amounts at first to test whether you and it are going to agree.  Do not take it if on psychotropics, for Wormwood has a subtle pychotropic effect of it's own - the increase clarity of thought.  If you decide to use it, don't go crazy ; use it at the most 2 cups a day for several weeks at a time, and then get off it for a while - which, by the way, is what I do with every drug (God-made or otherwise) as everything that helps can do hamr, as well.  Research recommendations?  Look into the European, Chinese, and Russian use of the herb, not just online, but in books at the library.  Alma Hutchens book 'Indian Herbalogy of North America' is a fantastic book, leaning on years of research done by a Soviet scientist named Tritnikov who compared traditional Russian herbalism with that of our own indigenous peoples. The handbook by 'Herbpharm' is excellent, as is Heinerman's Herbal dictionary, and 'The Herb Book' by John Lust.  These books are better than most of the rest, because they present the traditional uses of many cultures with herbal healing.  Unlike many of the books that flood the market, these books are not summary copy-cats, but treasure troves. 

I wish you the best, and remind you, that if, in the unlikely event, you are indeed 'irreparably' damaged, it is NOT from your negligible ingesting of Wormwood. 

Sounds like low vitamin D levels.

Get a 25 hydroxy D test done and the optimum levels are 60-80 ng/mL.

I have not met a single person, yet, that has their D levels within optimum and suffers from depression.

The only exception are those who are on antidepressants and benzodiazepines.