Disease Index

Homeopathy for Insanity

Homeopathy for Insanity
Written by Elaine Lewis

I’ll bet you didn’t know that there’s hope for insanity with homeopathy!

Not everyone who needs these remedies is insane; some might only have migraine headaches, others might have had too much to drink, or just temporarily insane from high fevers, drug use, etc.; but, clearly, some are really “insane”; but, nonetheless, homeopathy can help and sometimes cure!  Below are five often-prescribed remedies for “difficult people”:

STRAMONIUM (Stink-weed) 

High energy and intensity are striking in this remedy.  VIOLENCE or fear of violence is a keynote.  Night is a good time to look for Stramonium symptoms because they are AFRAID OF THE DARK, they are worse at night and may need ALL THE LIGHTS ON in the room; a hall light or night light may not be sufficient.  NIGHT TERRORS–shrieking in sleep, tossing and turning, sitting up and not knowing anyone, terrified, and not remembering the event the next morning, especially in children, is characteristic.  What would cause this state in a person?  A high fever, a suppressed fever, a stroke, meningitis, a recent FRIGHT or a fright they’ve never gotten over, sunstroke, a dog bite, a head injury, rabies, and alcoholism, are all possible causes.  Other Stramonium symptoms include:

Ceaseless talking.
Fear of tunnels.
Desire to escape.
Eyes staring wide; eyes half open during sleep.
Face–expression of terror.
Believes he is possessed by the devil or has other issues with the devil or devils.
There may be an absence of pain where pain would be normal.

RAVING MANIA, super-human strength, dilated pupils, red face, violent rages, manic-depression.

Biting, striking, strangling.

Fear of water, including the sight of running water, the sound of water, GETTING THE HEAD WET in the shower or the swimming pool, fear of shining objects, reflecting objects, glittering objects, mirrors; fear of animals, dogs, disease, ghosts, suffocation, claustrophobia, death, anything like death, such as the color black or cemeteries, etc. Conversely, they may dress all in black or seek out cemeteries and the like.

FEAR OF BEING ALONE, BETTER WITH COMPANY, especially at night.

STAMMERING. Makes explosive efforts to get the first syllable out.

Grimacing, twitches.
Hallucinations: sees animals coming at him, sees ghosts, talks to spirits, hears voices.

(All the insanity remedies seem to have religious affections– praying, talking to God, believing he is some great religious figure, etc., so, we can’t rely on this feature to differentiate among them.)

 

LACHESIS (the Bushmaster snake)

Intense people, egotistical, arrogant.  This remedy is especially associated with an excessive use of alcohol.
LOCQUACIOUS, jumping from one subject to another.  The patient TALKS a lot and talks LOUD!  (But, in a sense, most of these remedies talk loud; but, no one talks as much as Lachesis.)
Lachesis knows how to strike at the weak points of others and devastate them; sarcastic wit.  Think of the sharp fangs of the snake and how they will suddenly STRIKE when least expected.

JEALOUS and envious.  Very POSSESSIVE and SUSPICIOUS that the partner is cheating.  The Lachesis husband will listen in on the wife’s phone conversations, go through her personal papers, have her followed, watch her carefully when she’s with other men, and finally will make an outrageous statement, like, “I know you’re seeing Melvin Flurgg!”  The wife will say, “I don’t even like Melvin Flurgg!”  But eventually it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy because the wife gets fed up and leaves, but not without a Restraining Order!

Lachesis is suspicious in general of everyone’s intentions, which can escalate into PARANOIA.  Suspicious of you, the homeopath, the remedy, and probably will refuse to take it, and will suspect you of trying to POISON him.  As Lachesis is a venom, look for them to have a big issue with poisoning.

Snake venom causes the victim to hemorrhage, so, think of BLEEDING problems in Lachesis patients, such as nose bleeds or history of nose bleeds.  In fact, think of disturbances of the blood–the vascular system, the cardio-vascular system: HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, heart disease, hot flashes of menopause.
DISCHARGES AMELIORATE.  That means that the headache will improve with a nasal discharge, or PMS will get better when the menstrual flow begins.  Any discharge may make the person feel better–you can even think of talking as a discharge, a flow of words, which is why they will talk and talk and talk; conversely, stopping or suppressing normal discharges will aggravate a Lachesis person.
Think of THE COLOR PURPLE when thinking of Lachesis.  Problems on the skin will have a bluish/purplish appearance–ulcers, boils, blisters, swellings, and the color of the sore throat will be purple.

Think of how a snake can be completely controlled by being grabbed around the THROAT; therefore, Lachesis people cannot bear TIGHT collars or tight clothes in general.  I was fooled once by a Lachesis person.  I missed the remedy because the client wore very tight clothes; but what I didn’t know was, she took them off the minute she got home, it was only for fashion!  Find out what the person wears when he can wear anything he wants.  Similarly, the Lachesis person cannot tolerate any “tight” or “restricting” situation!  For example, working under authority, having to adhere to a schedule, having to answer to someone.

They may be angry, aggressive, sarcastic, hate-filled and vengeful.

SLEEP is not their friend!  Sleep is a very bad time for Lachesis!  They may have insomnia, or they may wake worse than they were before they went to sleep.  Waking with a feeling of SUFFOCATION is a common complaint in Lachesis.

LEFT-SIDED complaints, or complaints that start on the left and move to the right.

Lachesis people are hot and better from cool/cold open air and cold drinks.

Fear of heart attacks, suffocating, or SNAKES, or they may really like snakes and think they’re interesting.  They may have a fear that they’re being followed, Delusion: someone is behind them.

Tendency to alcoholism–another poison!

Mania, aggression, loud speech.

Men who will suspect the girl friend of cheating, stalk her, and possibly end up killing her in a jealous rage!

They prefer not to sleep on their left side.

Aversion to touch or pressure.

Trouble with SWALLOWING, especially empty swallowing or swallowing water.
Issues with the tongue–may not be able to extend it outwards, may have a tremor, may catch on the teeth or lower lip.

Ailments that come on after jealousy, better from cold open air.

Cold hands and feet.
The greatest danger from Lachesis is when they’ve been drinking alcohol, at which time they may fly into a jealous, murderous rage.

Don’t marry a snake.

HYOSCYAMUS (Stinking Roger) 

Loquacious, suspicious and JEALOUS like Lachesis.  The etiology for this state may be disappointed love or rejection.  Mania, rage, aggression, increased strength.  Delusion he will be poisoned.  Delusion he is pursued by the police.  Delusion he sees ghosts and spirits.

Fear of poison, dogs, animals, WATER.

Ability or desire to kill.  Mania and rage; desire to break things.
Attempts to escape.

Like Lachesis, they may have trouble swallowing liquids.

What Hyoscyamus is well known for is: LEWDNESS, LOUD LAUGHTER, NUDITY, undressing in public, SHAMELESSNESS, CURSING, WILD TALKING, dancing, SILLY AND FOOLISH behavior, jesting, making strange gestures, restless fingers, “PICKING”–picking anything, like imaginary things in the air, picking the bedspread, the clothing, and so on.

FEAR OF BEING ALONE, like Stramonium.  DESIRES COMPANY.

Restlessness

Sleepless from mental agitation, nightmares.

Just as suspicious as Lachesis and fear of being poisoned.

Talks rapidly, changes subjects often, laughs immoderately, rolls on the ground, dances, gesticulates, and in general behaves wildly and shamelessly.

In the Repertory, “Mind: insanity, crazy person, behaves like a”–Hyoscyamus is the only “3” in this rubric (which means the only remedy highly indicated for this behavior).

ANACARDIUM (Marking Nut)

The idea in this remedy is a DIVIDED self, or the idea of being separate; separate from the family or group, separate from society–doesn’t fit in; and in general, two selves divided.  He might be described as a DEVIL by some and an ANGEL by others.  He might believe that he is possessed by the devil.  He may say that he HEARS VOICES and the voices tell him what to do.  He may sense the presence of “others” or another, where no one is there.  The remedy itself in it’s physical form is a nut (no pun intended) that is very sweet on the inside and hard and caustic on the outside, which very aptly explains this remedy–hard, as in no feeling for the suffering of others or the suffering that he may cause.  These are the people who can be very CRUEL TO ANIMALS.

The Anacardium person may be someone who was pressured by domineering parents to become something the parents could be proud of.  Unable to achieve this, he has both ANGER and LOW SELF ESTEEM.  His most often repeated phrase may be “I HATE…!” (“I hate my life, I hate school, I hate everyone!”)

There is a lot of CURSING, SHOUTING, acting in CRUEL and malicious ways, especially if he’s a child or adolescent who’s been beaten and ABUSED in childhood, which is frequently the etiology for this remedy.  Some important characteristic symptoms of this remedy are:

INDECISION.  Consistent with his divided self, he finds deciding between one thing and another next to impossible and exasperating.

POOR MEMORY.  These are people who have to read the same paragraph over and over again before any of it sinks in.

May avoid the company of others because of feeling “different”.

EATING AMELIORATES ALL COMPLAINTS.  Whether it’s fever or headache or a fit of rage, eating will calm this person down and make him feel better.
There may be a propensity to say the opposite of what he intended, or write the opposite of what he meant, or do the opposite of what he meant to do…again, the theme of opposing forces struggling to hold sway.

NUX VOMICA (Poison Nut)

The key ideas for this remedy are:  OVER-SENSITIVE, OVER-ACHIEVING and NEED FOR STIMULATION.  When you think about it, everything that’s wrong with Nux Vomica springs from here.  Let’s start with over-achieving.

This is not your remedy for timidity and low self-esteem!  Nux Vomica sees what it wants, has a goal, and goes after it; nothing can stop Nux Vomica!  These people are focused!  Just try and stop them!  These are football players who plow their way into the end zone, they don’t care if they get hurt or who’s in their way!

They want power, they don’t shrink from confrontation, in fact they welcome it–just itching for a fight!  Bring on the competition!  This is because of their need for STIMULATION (which may explain their desire for SPICY FOOD–in fact, their lives are anything but bland!)  They crave stimulation, challenges.  Their idea of relaxing is to TAKE ON MORE WORK! (“OCCUPATION AMELIORATES”)

But this constant need for stimulation can be problematic.  The Nux Vomica “family man” simply can’t be content in a tranquil, peaceful home.  Such bland surroundings would irritate him immensely.  So Mr. Nux Vomica finds fault with everything and everyone: Dinner wasn’t served on time!  Someone’s sitting in his chair!  And if Mr. Nux Vomica has a drinking problem (and he probably does) look out!  They have a fiery temper–so angry they could kill! EXPLOSIONS!  OUTBURSTS!  This is the house where the wife and the kids are walking on egg shells because they don’t know what’s going to happen next!  And after he’s got everyone in the house crying, screaming and yelling, he’ll say, “Shhh! I need to be quiet!”  Yes, I know, what nerve!  (OVERSENSITIVITY, easily irritated.)

Because of all of Nux Vomica’s bad habits–his overwork, lack of sleep, the famous Nux vomica INSOMNIA, use of drugs and coffee and alcohol (STIMULANTS), his nerves are frayed!  He can’t tolerate interruptions, he can’t tolerate noise; in fact, in order to work, he must have COMPLETE QUIET.  To go to sleep, Nux Vomica requires COMPLETE QUIET!  Odors also bother him.  In fact, any DISHARMONY in the environment at all is intolerable.  He may say things like, “My house is a constant irritation to me!”

Everything he does is done perfectly and systematically with attention to detail and efficiency, and don’t you try to help because you won’t know how (according to him)! He can’t delegate authority because everyone is so stupid, so incompetent!  He won’t even let the family order in a restaurant for themselves.  If the wife orders fish, he’ll say, “You don’t want the fish.  The fish is no good here.  I’ll just handle this.  Waiter, my wife will have the roast beef.”

With all the drugs and coffee and alcohol, it should come as no surprise that Nux Vomica’s digestive system is too toxic to function.  It doesn’t eliminate.  He tends to be CONSTIPATED, has heartburn, does a lot of burping, has a lot of bloating.

Morning is a very bad time for him.  He may wake feeling very toxic and he’s not going to really feel good until the evening.  Think of your typical hangover after a night of drinking–not being able to tolerate light or noise and feeling very toxic, that’s nux vomica.

Here are some confirmatory symptoms for Nux Vomica:

CHILLY and worse least draft of air.
CONTRADICTION AGGRAVATES.
Desires rich, fatty food, red meat, cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, spicy food.
CHARACTER-CHANGES FROM USE OF DRUGS AND ALCOHOL, and we don’t necessarily mean illegal drugs; Rx drugs are a problem for Nux Vomica too.
Domestic violence.
Twitching and trembling.  Spasms.
INSOMNIA, waking at 3 AM.
PERFECTIONISM.
STUBBORN.
SYMPATHETIC, because of their over-sensitivity, they can empathize with the pain of others.  Can’t tolerate cruelty to animals.  Can’t bear to see suffering.
Kindness with spells of angry outbursts.
EASILY PROVOKED.
EGO, SELF-IMPORTANCE.
Loves to take charge.
Tenesmus–wants to but can’t: Wants to urinate but can’t, nauseous but can’t vomit.
Reverse parastalsis–stool seems to be moving the wrong way!

***

If you should bump into any of these people, just say “excuse me” and keep on going!

__________________________

Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom

Elaine takes online cases.  Write to her at [email protected]

Visit her website: https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com

About the author

Elaine Lewis

Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.
Elaine is a passionate homeopath, helping people offline as well as online. Contact her at [email protected]
Elaine is a graduate of Robin Murphy's Hahnemann Academy of North America and author of many articles on homeopathy including her monthly feature in the Hpathy ezine, "The Quiz". Visit her website at:
https://elainelewis.hpathy.com/ and TheSilhouettes.org

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