Comparison of Psychoactive
Plant Drug Group to General Drug Remedy
Themes
[Barbara Knab]
Koffein, Alkohol und Nikotin – unsere Alltagsdrogen sind legal, unangenehme Nebenwirkungen haben sie trotzdem, auch in Sachen Schlaf (Garcia, Candidate, Salloum, 2015). Alkohol gilt direkt als Schlummertrunk. Tatsächlich schläft schneller ein, wer einmal etwas trinkt, besser schläft er aber nicht. Wer regelmäßig trinkt, verspielt den Effekt. Auf Dauer riskiert er sogar ein echtes Schlafproblem, und das lange vor der Sucht.
Koffein und Nikotin nehmen wir ausdrücklich, um wach zu sein. Sehr viel Koffein steckt in Kaffee, weniger in Tee und Cola-Getränken, sehr wenig in Schokolade. Koffein weckt objektiv und oft länger, als uns lieb ist. Es kann nämlich bis zu fünf Stunden dauern, bis auch nur die Hälfte des Koffeins abgebaut ist. Mit Koffein im Blut schläft man schwerer ein, und der Schlaf wird flach und kurz. Auch Nikotin macht wach. Noch Stunden nach der letzten Zigarette kann es den Schlaf stören, und das auch langfristig. Zumindest schläft fast jeder dritte Raucher regelmäßig schlecht, auch wenn er sonst gesund ist (Cohrs et al., 2012). Das sind 50 Prozent mehr als bei vergleichbaren Nichtrauchern. Je mehr man raucht, umso riskanter wird es.
[Ruth Heather Hull]
Prior to this research, drug remedies had been explored by Sankaran
(2005a), Mangialavori (2010) and Chhiba (2013). Sankaran (2005a) has also
differentiated between
the Plant, Animal and Mineral kingdoms. However, no formal group
analysis of the psychoactive drug remedies derived from the plant kingdom had
been conducted and
it has, therefore, been difficult for homoeopaths to recognise when a
patient requires a psychoactive plant drug remedy specifically.
This study confirms that most of Mangialavori’s (2010) general drug
themes are present in the psychoactive plant drug remedies including:
a flight from reality,
avoidance,
sense of isolation;
problems of personality structure;
altered sensory perception;
hyperactivity/apathy;
creativity.
It also confirms Sankaran’s (2005a) common plant drug themes of
alienation, sensitivity and activity of mind as well as his general Plant
sensations [heightened sensitivity).
A number of significant differences between remedies derived from psychoactive
plants and the synthetic recreational drug isolate group researched by Chhiba
(2013).
The researcher proposes that the following
factors are necessary to differentiate between psychoactive plant drug remedies
and other drug remedies:
Ailments from hurt or shock – Sankaran (2005c: 4) noted that particular
to the Plant Kingdom is their fear of hurt and pain and that causation of
ailments almost always lies
in emotional or physical hurt or shock. This is evident in psychoactive
plant drug remedies specifically and not other drug remedies. According to
Chhiba (2013: 163),
“the synthetic recreational drug isolate group does not have a main
theme of intense suffering, pain and agony”.
The underlying sensation of horror–Sankaran (2005a: 513) suggests that
the plant drug remedies share the sensation of upliftment and Chhiba recognised
this in the synthetic recreational drug isolate group as feelings of joy,
euphoria, excitement and contentment (Chhiba, 2013: 152). Although the
researcher noted qualities of joy and euphoria in
the analyzed psychoactive plant drug remedies, there was simultaneously
the common sensation of horror.
Upliftment is essentially the feeling that the world is beautiful and
Sankaran (2005a: 513) suggests that plant drug remedies are uplifted through
music, beauty or open spaces.
Of the remedies included in this study, Anh. is often considered to be
full of ‘uplifting’ or ‘beautiful’ delusions whilst the other studied remedies
are well-known for their confusion and pain. Yet on closer analysis, Anh. is,
like the other remedies studied is a fearful and ‘dark’ remedy, filled with
pain and confusion.
Anhalonium lewinii’s colourful visions and hallucinations are not
necessarily uplifting and can, in fact, be confusing or unpleasant for the
individual.
Anhalonium lewinii is the only remedy to appear in the rubrics‘
MIND - EXECUTION lost as the result of overpowering visual sensations’,
‘
MIND - THINKING – unable for abstract thinking
MIND - THINKING - conceptual inability about environment
These rubrics (which can be considered highly characteristic of
Anhalonium lewinii because it is the only remedy in the rubrics)
indicate that the colourful and rhythmical hallucinations that Anhalonium
lewinii is so well known for actually leading to confusion and the inability to
think as opposed to
a sense of upliftment.
Omnipotence via transcendence
Mangialavori (2010) suggests that all remedies belonging to the
Homoeopathic Drug Family have a sense of omnipotence. This is demonstrated in
the psychoactive plant
drug remedies through their ability to transcend their condition. In
transcending their pain and suffering they are able to rise above their
condition and become omnipotent.
The following rubrics demonstrate this sense of omnipotence:
MIND - DELUSIONS – is all powerful (Cann-i.)
MIND - DELUSIONS – Mary Virgin Mary (Cann-i)
MIND - DELUSIONS - he possesses infinite knowledge (Cann-i.)
MIND - DELUSIONS – is an emperor (Cann-i.)
MIND - DELUSIONS – being divine (Cann-i.)
MIND - DELUSIONS – is Christ himself (Cann-i.)
MIND - DELUSIONS – is immortal (Anh.)
MIND - DELUSIONS - body covers whole earth (Cann-i.)
Sensation of heat – Mangialavori (2010): the sensation of cold is common
to drug remedies. This research revealed that the psychoactive plant drug
remedies can experience either cold or heat.
Patients requiring remedies derived from psychoactive plant drugs
experience localised sensations of warmth (for example, Cann-i. experiences an
agreeable warmth in the brain) or sensations of both heat and cold
simultaneously (Coffea cruda has trembling of hands with heat
in palms and coldness of back of hands (Hering in RadarOpus).
These remedies > or < heat or cold (Nux moschata, hands feel cold
as if frozen with tingling under nails on entering warm room (Hering in
RadarOpus).
Sensation of moisture - Chhiba (2013) noted dryness as a sensation of
the synthetic recreational drug isolate group.
This is present in the psychoactive plant drug remedies, yet so is its
opposing sensation – moisture. Moisture is especially evident in increased
perspiration (Opium
has a very hot, sweltering perspiration [Clarke in RadarOpus]) or sensitivity
to, or aggravations from, damp weather or getting wet (for example, Nux moschata
aggravated by damp,
wet weather and getting wet [Clarke in RadarOpus]).
Opposing sensations – Sankaran (2005c: 4) found that remedies belonging
to the Plant Kingdom share the feature of experiencing a basic sensation and
its opposite sensation. This is unique to the psychoactive plant drug remedies
who are able to experience two opposing sensations simultaneously.
For example:
Heat and cold – in Cann-i. the whole body is cold, but the face grows
always warmer and warmer (Hahnemann in RadarOpus).
Sleep and wakefulness – Opium has the urgent inclination to sleep with
an absolute inability to go to sleep (Clarke in RadarOpus).
Hyperaesthesia and analgesia – Opium experiences a numbness or lack of
sensibility in the ulcer that ought to be sensitive (Kent in RadarOpus).
Dryness and moisture – Coffea cruda has a dry cough but profuse
micturition (Hering in RadarOpus);
Nux moschata develops a dry cough after drinking (Hering in RadarOpus);
and Opium has perspiration of upper part of body with dry heat of lower part
(Clarke in RadarOpus) and internal dryness but complaints appear with sweat
(Vermeulen in RadarOpus).
Positive and negative emotions:
Cannabis indica’s disposition in the forenoon is dejected, yet in the
afternoon is cheerful (Hahnemann in RadarOpus);
Coffea cruda alternates laughing and weeping (Allen in RadarOpus);
Nux moschata is one moment laughing, the next crying (Allen in
RadarOpus); and both Coffea cruda and Opium become ill from joy.
[Ruth Heather Hull]
Comparison of the Psychoactive Plant Drug Group to the Synthetic
Recreational Drug Isolate Group Remedies
Psychoactive plant drugs differ from synthetic recreational drug
isolates in many ways.
Psychoactive plant drugs have formed an intricate part of cultural and
religious practices for thousands of years, helping to connect people not only
to one another but also
to something ‘greater than themselves’, to an inner spirituality or to
an external (transcendent) god. They are often used to engender a sense of
togetherness or belonging and taken as part of spiritual or cultural rituals.
Even coffee, at first glance nothing more than a stimulant, has been used for
centuries to bring people together and as Fuller (cited
in Vermeulen and Johnston, 2011c: 629) said: “The popularity of
coffeehouses reveals a continuing connection between coffee and spirituality –
and more particularly, a spirituality that flourishes outside our official
religious institutions. Corner coffee shops, sixtiesish coffeehouses, and even
the neighbourhood “kaffeeklatsch” provide a forum of spirited -and spiritual-
human exchange”.
Synthetic recreational drugs are mainly used for recreation, for ‘fun’,
to get ‘stoned’, and their use lacks the deeper spiritual connection that plant
drugs offer.
Instead, they engender a sense of isolation and disconnection. Even the
apparent ‘connection’ that synthetic drugs can give is often what Fraser (2002:
76) terms “inappropriate bonding”, where “the lack of boundaries can also
result in connections, and so in relationships, that are not suitable and can
be harmful”.
During the production of synthetic drugs, the active component is
isolated and synthesised while when psychoactive plant drugs are used in their
wholeness and totality
they have hundreds of different active ingredients that buffer one
another and work together synergistically as a whole.
According to university researchers in Arizona (cited in Mangialavori
and Marotta 2010: 18), peyote contains a wide spectrum antibiotic component
which can inhibit at
least 18 strains of penicillin- resistant
Staphylococcus aureus and “many constituents
contribute to the peyote experience which is different from the experience of
mescaline alone”. Synthetic recreational drugs embody what their name implies,
disconnection, dissociation and isolation, while psychoactive plant drugs hold
a deeper spiritual connectivity.
Not only do the drugs themselves differ, but so do the remedies derived
from these two different groups of drugs. According to Chhiba (2013), the
common sensations of
the synthetic recreational drug isolates are:
Anxiety;
Restlessness
Fear
Excitement
Dryness
Indifference;
Isolation.
Although these sensations are also present in the psychoactive plant
drug group, the core issues of each of these groups differ. Intrinsic to the
psychoactive plant drug group is a deep sensitivity and pervading feeling of
horror. It is this extraordinary sensitivity that causes either an increase or
decrease in activity.
It is this extreme sensitivity that makes them so reactive, or, if they
can bear their pain no more, unreactive and detached.
Hence the remedy Opium is insensitive to pain, but only because he/she has
already born so much pain that he/she has now become numb to it (Sankaran,
2005b).
On the other hand, the synthetic recreational drug isolates seem to lack
emotional sensitivity and appear indifferent. Although their physical senses
may be heightened (senses of taste, hearing, vision, touch), they lack
emotional awareness and reactivity and are generally more detached than the
psychoactive plant drug remedies. According to Chhiba (2013), indifference,
isolation, disconnection and separation are all themes in the synthetic
recreational drug isolates. Although these themes may appear in the
psychoactive plant remedies they are in fact reactions, or compensations, for
too much sensitivity and too much feeling.
The Application of Group Analysis to the Psychoactive Plant Remedies
As the analysis of this group of remedies progressed, the researcher
found herself repeatedly asking the same questions which she feels are
necessary in determining the validity of the group analysis method as a whole.
If group analysis is to be considered a reliable method of decision-making and
clinical reasoning then it needs to be applied systematically and logically. If
a homoeopath applies group analysis to a case and concludes that the patient in
front of them needs a psychoactive plant remedy then they should to be able to
clearly demonstrate how they came up with the remedy by answering the following
questions:
If a homoeopath applies group analysis to a case and concludes that the patient
in front of them needs a psychoactive plant remedy then they should to be able
to clearly
demonstrate how they came up with the remedy by answering the following
questions:
1. Why does the patient require a remedy sourced from ‘drugs’
specifically?
2. Why does the patient require a remedy sourced from the ‘Plant
Kingdom’ specifically?
3. Why does the patient require a ‘psychoactive plant drug remedy’
specifically?