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By Joy Lucas RSHom.
Case taken 24/9/01
Female, 49y, lab researcher, married, 3 children
PC – constant fear, anxiety, total introversion, feelings of stiffness.
Observations:- average height, slightly plump, dark hair, slightly
perspiring but clear skin, seems an intelligent and caring person.
She did not weep during the case taking, but was reasonably open.
"How can I help you?"
"Ever since it happened I can’t do anything – I can’t work,
concentrate, get going on anything, I feel so stiff emotionally as well
as physically.
I am so scared, everything seems dangerous to me.
I am sure everyone feels strongly about it all but I can’t understand
why it is effecting me so deeply.
I feel completely consumed with anger, sadness, anxiousness and fear."
The following is a more condensed re-telling of the case.
By "it" she is referring to September 11th events
in the USA
Watched CNN continuously for over a week
Was totally absorbed into it
Couldn’t believe that a whole week had passed by and she had done
nothing else
Couldn’t sleep
Was at home on her own – husband and children away from home
Had no contact with anyone else
Described herself as quiet but confident normally
Likes her job – it is interesting but not too taxing
Enjoys a good discussion with friends
Likes politics, reading, cinema, music – very cultured
Relationship with family very good – children away at Uni, husband
travels a lot – misses them, can get lonely but has lots of friends
Not religious
Worn out now with loss of sleep
Mind feels confused, can’t concentrate
The attacks of fear and anxiety come on suddenly, doesn’t want to go
out of the house, jumps when the phone rings, nearly didn’t turn up
for her appointment
Main fear is of danger – "everything hides something dangerous"
Before all this was only frightened of spiders
Whole body feels stiff and tired – no pain though
<<< a.m. mainly because of loss of sleep (usually quite a good
sleeper).
Feels now as though she has a cold coming on – slightly sore throat r.
side
No appetite, hadn’t eaten properly for days, quite thirsty for cold
water
--- fish, apples, doesn’t like meat but eats it for convenience of
family cooking
+++ pasta, cheese
Feels bloated and full of wind
Stools and urine o.k.
Menses rather erratic for last few months – thinks it’s the
menopause – nothing untoward
Very poor sleep, no dreams, mind feels too numb
Likes air but feels uncomfortable if she gets chilly
Generally << morning
Usually very good health, can’t remember the last time she was ill,
can’t carry on like this.
Children’s health good. Parents still alive and well.
So here was a person of usually good health, a strong constitution who
had nonetheless been knocked sideways by a traumatic event.
She felt she had no idea why this trauma had effected her so much.
Repertorisation – Synthetic.
Fear impending danger
Absorbed in thought
Averse to food
Stiffness – extremities
These aspects of the case were so strong that I was prepared to use only
these.
I felt I was treating this case as an acute as the client showed no
other tendency towards this state.
It was hard to see a constitutional state (i.e. Rx ) as she was normally
so healthy.
Coincidentally I chose to read up on Cocculus Indicus first, not only
because it appeared bold type in all the above rubrics but because the
only thing I could remember about this remedy was that it was used to
paralyse fish!!!! And I was taken by her aversion to fish – it was a
very strong aversion
It is always strange but very useful when something just happens to
steer you in the right direction.
And it saved a lot of time.
M. Tyler quotes…. "Glamis hath murdered sleep and therefore
Cawdor shall sleep no more; Macbeth shall sleep no more.
And she also writes……. Thoughts are fixed on a single disagreeable
subject; absorbed in thought and notices nothing; time passes quickly;
easily startled; ill effects of anger and grief; extreme aversion to
food; paralytic weakness.
Speech difficult, can’t read or think, takes a long time in reflecting.
Slowness of comprehension, cannot find the right word, speaks hastily,
forgets himself, irritable and cannot bear the least noise or
contradiction.
Great talkativeness, witty joking, irresistible desire to sing, a kind
of mania. Melancholy and sad, sensitive to insults.
Cannot accomplish anything at work.
Frightened and very anxious for others.
Fear of death and unknown dangers.
Cocculus indicus (Indian Cockle) – active principle is Picrotoxin (alkaloid)
= used for stupefying fish so that they might be caught by hand.
Remedy = Cocculus 200 – single dose
She phoned 2 days later to say that she went to bed straight away and
fell asleep but had the most awful dreams of being crushed.
She was surprised that she awoke without any fear even though the dream
was still with her.
She ate 3 breakfasts the next day and laughed about this.
She has been crying a lot but feels >>> for this.
Feels the Remedy is still working and asked what else it will do.
Wait and see I said.
So why did this relatively healthy, strong and seemingly harmonious
person ‘fall’ so deeply?
She is a sensitive person and perhaps that is where her susceptibility
lies.
She has arranged to come and see me again in a few weeks time.
I think that many of us tend to group together a small number of
remedies and label them as useful for trauma and shock etc.
But we must stress the individuality of every case and with this in mind
one could almost say that ANY remedy could be the similimum in a
trauma/shock case.
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