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| Jane was an eleven year-old with an attitude, especially
toward her parents and teachers. She hated her divorced mother'
s new boyfriend and often argued with him, taking his poor attempts
at humor personally. Her mother described her anger as "way
out there." She had severe outbursts of anger (3). She yelled,
cursed, and called people names. Seeming insignificant events
could throw Jane into a violent tantrum (3). She could not deal
with changes in plans, or not getting what she wanted. Jane screamed,
scratched her face, and lay on the floor, kicking and hitting
anyone who came near. Once she waved scissors threateningly in
her mother's face. Whenever she lost it, she remained out of control
for several hours.
School problems were also significant. Jane could not focus well on academics, but her grades were good despite her lack of attention. She was quite intelligent, but she did have trouble with reading. Jane complained, "My teacher bugs me!" (2). The main problem was that Jane bullied and acted aggressively with other children. She became easily upset and had tantrums in school. Because she was adopted from an Asian country, she looked different from most of the other kids in her school and was teased by the other students, causing her to react violently. Frustrated if things were not perfect, her mood often escalated to destructiveness or violence. Jane hated homework and preferred to watch TV instead. Jane had a strong fear of spiders (3). She yelled. "Kill it! Kill it!" whenever she saw one. Jane lamented, "I'm freaky about germs. I hate them. I don't like to get them in my bedroom." Her bed had to be clean. "I take two baths a day, one in the morning and one to get clean after being with 2 bazillion people all day." She used to wash her hands until they bled. Jane was also very afraid to be alone (3). She would not shower or go to the bathroom by herself (2). Jane had vivid, lucid dreams. In one dream, she was on a road which came to a dead end with dead people and spiders lying all around. She also dreamt of being trapped on a hill with a zombie or a scary person. In yet another dream, she was surrounded by bloody dead people, as if she was in a war zone. She climbed a wall and skiied away in the desert, then arrived at a cliff and jumped off. She felt that the dream was kind of scary, but mostly just "stupid." Quite social and outgoing, Jane liked to be with people. She needed constant activity. A very active child since she was a baby, Jane's favorite activities were sports and collecting amphibians, especially toads and frogs. She explained, "I hate bugs and they eat bugs. The bugs are gross looking. My frogs have an easy life. They just sit there, that's all they have to do." She was good at sports, especially soccer, baseball and skiing. Jane was mostly healthy. She had minor pain in her achilles tendons and she wheezed occasionally from exercise. She bit her nails and cracked her knuckles. Jane enjoyed eating candy (3), hamburgers (2), artichokes (2), pickles (2), red apples (1) and pasta (1). That is the case. Now study it and turn to page 82 for the discussion and follow-up. Jane was given one dose of Tarentula hispanica 200C, which had some positive effects on her mood and behavior by the first follow-up at six weeks. Her outbursts did not last as long and she and her mother could come to an easier resolution, though she still "tantrummed" with her father. She was not as "freaky" about germs or as fearful when even a a tiny spider crossed her path. She had stopped collecting frogs and toads. She was also getting along better with her mother's boyfriend. She had been in two fights at school. Overall, Jane seemed somewhat better. Tarentula, derived from the well-known tarantula spider, is a common medicine for ADHD. People needing this medicine can have physical agility, a prominent fear of spiders, very hyperactive behavior and violent tantrums. Jane did not have the particularly strong love of music and dancing which is very common in Tarentula cases, but she did like rap music (1). Her strong desire to kill spiders and watch her frogs kill insects, as well as her inherently violent nature with a tendency to anger and aggression, is typical of homeopathic medicines derived from the animal kingdom, and her dreams and references to spiders, insects and people "bugging" her were pointers to a spider medicine. We also thought about the medicine Bufo rana, derived from toad secretions, which might have similar feelings toward insects and a predilection for frogs and toad!s. The stupor, mental deficiency and hypersexuality of Bufo were not present in Jane, however. Although Tarentula had a good effect on Jane, it was perhaps not the simillimum (most similar medicine) for her case. More questioning revealed how sensitive Jane was to teasing kids at school called her disparaging names. This bothered her a lot and led to her teasing them back and even punching them (2). Jane never admitted when she was in the wrong, but if she was obviously caught doing something, she would confess and apologize. When asked if she liked animals, she said she liked dogs, but she wanted a cat because that was all her mother would allow her to have in the house. She was kind to animals. She had developed one new symptom of frequently choking (2) on her food. When asked whether she liked knives, Jane said that she wanted a knife, did not fear knives and liked to cut things. Her food desires were for candy (3), dill pickles (3) and roast beef sandwiches (3). At this interview, we changed Jane's medicine to Lyssin 200C, the rabies nosode, also known as Hydrophobinum. People who need Lyssin often feel teased and tormented and react violently. They are known for their violent rages with quick repentance. They especially feel tormented in their place of security, according to Rajan Sankaran, and try to apologize after their rage so as to maintain the relationship with those people on whom they are dependent. Jane felt this way with her father and her mother's boyfriend. Lyssin patients often like animals, especially dogs. They also like apples and chocolate. They are not known for fears of spiders or germs, which were prominent in the original case. They often like knives, like to cut things and have an impulse to stab themselves or others, such as when Jane threatened! her mother with scissors. Two months later, Jane showed a significant improvement in her emotions and mood swings. She was not taking multiple showers now. She could still be hyper in speech and actions, but she was no longer feeling rage or getting into fights. Jane controlled herself better, so her outbursts were not nearly as frequent. She now felt comfortable being alone. Although she still had a slight fear of spiders (1), she no longer minded insects. Jane also did not talk about germs as much. She went to basketball camp and had a wonderful time, with no complaints from the staff about behavior and no fighting with the other kids. Jane continued to do well for the next four months. Her anger improved. She sometimes talked back to her mother, but she no longer kicked or hit. Her nail biting stopped and she said, "I have nails now!" Germs weren't an issue, but she liked to shower twice a day. Her schoolwork was fine and she was getting good grades. Another dose of Lyssin 200C was given because her anger had begun to return in the last few weeks. Jane continued to do well. Three months later her mother reported that things were much more even emotionally. She had calmed down a lot after the last dose of Lyssin, but recently her hyperactivity was beginning to return. The intensity of her anger was way down and she was not violent or getting into fights, except for one fight right after the remedy. Her grades were quite good, she got a 98% in math. Her nails were perfect. Jane no longer liked knives. She cut her finger accidentally, and now said "Knives are bad!" Fears of spiders and germs were completely gone. Jane received one more dose of Lyssin 200C which calmed her hyperactivity, and she has been well since. Although Tarentula was helpful for Jane, we can see in retrospect that Lyssin was the simillimum and had a much deeper effect. It completely changed her sensitivity to being teased, her inability to adapt to changes and her reactions of rage, violence and tantrums which were so prevalent in her original case. Her fears also markedly improved, partly from the Tarentula, but definitely from Lyssin. Her nailbiting also went away, indicating perhaps that her general level of anxiety had decreased, and her hyperactivity also eventually improved. This case clearly demonstrates the power of homeopathic medicines to alter the mental and emotional state of this formerly violent child. We believe that homeopathy has the potential for making a marked impact on almost anyone in this category, who is oppositional, aggressive and !violent to themselves or others. Just think of how much we could do to prevent family dysfunction and violent crime through voluntary homeopathic treatment of those with violent tendencies. Perhaps we could begin to empty our juvenile detention centers and prisons instead of constantly building new ones for those who are unable to control their anger, rage and violence. Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman and Robert Ullman are licensed naturopathic physicians and board certified in homeopathy. They are President and Vice President of the International Foundation for Homeopathy (IFH) and teach in the IFH Professional Course. They are the authors of The Patient's Guide to Homeopathic
Medicine, Ritalin-Free Kids, a book on the homeopathic treatment
of ADD and related problems, and their new book, Homeopathic
Self-care, The Quick and Easy Guide for the Whole Family. They
may be reached at: |
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