A 32-year-old woman became depressed and attempted suicide during treatment with Ma-huang. The woman started taking four tablets a day of the supplement (recommended daily dose two tablets; 324 mg of Ma-huang extract, standardised for 20 mg of ephedrine alkaloids). After beginning this treatment, she started feeling depressed and irritable and had poor impulse control. She reported frequent suicidal feelings. She had more energy and slept less than 3 h per night. She also reported that she heard voices calling her name. Two months later, she was brought to hospital in a comatose state after ingesting 80 acetaminophen (paracetamol) tablets, 60 tablets of the herbal weight-loss supplement and an unknown number of multivitamin tablets. The woman regained consciousness and psychiatric evaluation revealed pressured speech, flight of ideas, irritable and annoyed mood, and auditory hallucinations. Her symptoms resolved over 5 days without medication and, at 5 months’ follow-up, she was euthymic, had no suicidal feelings and was not taking any psychotropic medication.