Bryonia. Anhang

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[Dr. M.L. Sehgal]

A Bryonia patient fears suffering.

Cocculus has fear of sudden events and the

Gelsemium patient fears losing his self control.

Losing: Something or someone going away, something or someone slipping away from one’s possession, failing to hold on, not in a position to hold a thing with command anymore, a situation where defeat is inevitable, not able to attract a thing / keep a relationship due to loss of charm or affection.

A cloth loses its color means it has no more strength to hold it or the external agents (soap, sunlight etc.,) robs away its colour.

A mother says, “My children are going away from me, they do not love / listen / respect me as much as they used to.” She feels her grip loosening over them. It could be that they have grown up or she

is too occupied to give them sufficient time.

When a wife starts missing her husband’s love she thinks she is losing him.

Self: Pertaining to oneself, limited to an individual

Control: Regulate, to check, balance, to keep under supervision, to guide.

For a Gelsemium patient it is very important to maintain his balance. He will therefore not do any activity (talking/moving etc.), which can upset his balance. It could be physical, mental or both.

For a Gelsemium patient, the balance depends upon his Will. If his will is strong he can keep his balance intact. He can move or talk easily until his mind is away from the body. For example, a sick

lady keeps working in the kitchen so long as her mind is away from her problems but the moment she realizes that, she will collapse. If she continues to do so she stops work and returns to bed.

–WILL, muscles refuse to obey the will when attention is turned away

To understand it in a better way we can read this rubric as:

-BETTER, feeling of, till the mind is away from the body(s*)

Actually the condition of a Gelsemium is like a pendulum (oscillates to and fro). If his will (mind) gets strong (due to positive light) he gets exhilarated and the body gets tilted towards better

feeling but the moment the will gets weakened he gets embarrassed and the body goes into the state of torpor. Now if we look into the whole symptomatology of Gelsemium, the concern for

maintaining self control is visible.

There are many kinds of fear in a Gelsemium patient like:

Fear that his heart will cease to beat if he is not constantly on the move.

Fear of being alone

Fear when going to the church or opera

Fear in a crowd, in public places, of appearing in the public, of downward motion, of falling.

Fear of an impending danger

Fear of thunderstorm

It is in a bid to maintain self control that all these types of fears creep up in his mind while facing problems. The impact of the fear on his mind gets so strong that he loses his sense of security.

For this reason he cannot live alone. He needs someone around so that if an emergency arises he can be taken care of. For this reason he clings to those near him.

– CLINGING, held wants to be

Clinging: Sticking or coming closer by embracing. To adhere closely or firmly as if glued. To have a strong emotional attachment or dependence.

Why doe a Gelsemium patient need to cling? He fears that he may lose self control. For comfort: from someone who can really care for him. Who can understand his needs. Whom does he cling to?

To a person who can provide him comfort, give him attention and show him the way.

> ATTENTION

When does he give up clinging?

When the light (attraction) fades or he does not get proper attention.

or

When there is an apprehension that the person to whom he is clinging may leave.

-FEAR, of being rejected (s*)

-FEAR, falling, child holds on to mother

Gels is in:

-CLINGING, held, wants to be but not in CLINGING, grasp at others

Ars. is the only remedy that covers both

Hold: To keep watch, support with hand or arm, adhere to something

A patient who likes to be held wishes that the person providing him support should always be there beside him. It makes him sad to hear that person say he has to leave. On hearing this he will plead / request that the person not leave but stay with him for some more time. Grasp: grip firmly; embrace, to keep in possession once in the grip (physically / mentally).

A patient who shows this behaviour will grip the attendant’s arm or hand not allowing him to go away. Such an action requires an effort from the person. He has to extend his hands or arms to do so.

Once a thing / idea come into his grip he does not let it go easily.

For a Gelsemium patient it does not matter who is around him, whether it is a little child or an older person. If asked how he expects to be helped by a small child or an old person who are too weak to

even take care of themselves, he will tell you that he does not expect any physical support from them but at least their presence is enough in case something happens to me then they can call the neighbor

or phone someone.

-CLINGING to a person or furniture etc.

How and why does a person need to cling to the furniture?

Clinically it has been observed that a Gelsemium patient likes the presence of those persons who can understand him or his needs very well. He does not want those people’s support who have no idea about his needs. A lady suffering from menstrual pain told me that when in pain she felt like resting on a particular chair, which belonged to her mother. She said, “Today I asked my mother to send it

to me.” When I asked her what it was that she found so particular about that chair, she replied, “I do not know but whenever I used to get sick, sitting on that chair gave me a lot of comfort.

I feel it is like my mother.”

This is again a case of fear of losing control. The thinking behind it is that if the other person fails to support him then at least an inanimate object can save her.

-FEAR falling of

Falling: To come or drop down suddenly to a lower position.

For this reason the patient takes the support of table / chair near him as he knows they are strong enough to prevent his fall.

What is etc. in the above rubric (CLINGING to person or furniture etc.)

Etc: Other than (a person or furniture) that if he has to walk up to the toilet or get up and move to do something important, he takes the support of a wall.

If we visit a Gelsemium patient we will find only one person sitting beside him as an attendant.

He wants that a person sitting beside him should be absolutely quiet. He should not do anything. He should not move at all. He should not watch television, hear music, read newspaper or do anything else. If he finds the other person indulging in any kind of activity he asks him to leave the room. He wants 100% attention of the person with him. He also does not like artificial or mechanical support / care.

He likes natural affection and assurance, which exhilarates him and makes him cheerful.

-LIGHT desires (positive)

The word positive is an addition. It means he loves things in which there is no negativity. This patient asks the doctor if his problem will get better. He wants to hear a positive answer from the doctor. He feels good by reassurance from the doctor. The other meaning of positive is something that has a natural effect, no artificial love, affection or care. A Gelsemium patient likes to have natural light coming from outside his room during the day and at night he likes to have a light which is soothing.

The Gelsemium patient likes to have quietness around him.

-QUIET, wants to be

He cannot tolerate even the noise of a running tap as it takes away his self control. He is indisposed to talk and averse to being spoken to. He does not like to be touched. He wants to avoid every kind of disturbance which can affect his composure and state of balance that he is trying to maintain with so much effort.

-DISTURBED, averse to being

-IRRITABILITY, spoken to, when

-TOUCHED, aversion to being

Events, whether anticipated or of the past, affect this patient both ways. When anticipating she is doubtful of her capacity to face them and after they have passed away, she becomes over conscious about how she could face them and if she will be able to face them if they occur again.

-EMBARRASSED, ailments after

As this patient tries very hard to maintain his composure, anything, which shakes his composure, leads to embarrassment.

An example:

A lady is asked to cook for a few guests. Initially she feels that it would not be possible for her to cook but then somehow she manages it. After that when she gets exhausted she warns the family members to not expect it from her again. She accuses others of not understanding how difficult it was for her to do it.

It has been observed that if during the problem this patient attains a state of comfort she does not like to leave it. She will take care at all costs that no one disturbs her, even to the extent of not answering the call of nature. She will only move when it becomes necessary for her. It is only when her will gets strong or diverted that she moves. But because of lack of energy she fails to hold herself up for a long time and then falls back on the bed. This embarrasses her so much that she decides not to move again even if it is important.

In bad health he goes into a state of:

Stupefaction

Dullness

Sluggishness

Confusion of mind

He cannot open his eyes and concentrate on anything. He cannot take any mental / physical exertion. In this state he has to suspend all his activities.

We call this state: TORPOR

It is a state of temporary loss of energy.

A Case: An old lady suffering from Herpes Zoster said, “I have all types of pains due to the disease.”

When questioned how she experiences her sickness and how she feels about it,

she replied, “After many days of turmoil I have realized that I should not worry about this body. It is not me who is sick, it is someone else. It is my body, the mortal being or my deeds (karmas).

Let it bear it. I will have to leave my body when I am dead so what have I to do with it. I tell myself that I am the soul and not the body.”

-DELUSIONS, sick someone else is

Then she told me that she tries to get over the pain and do things but her body does not cooperate with her will. She fails to even lift her body. In her words, “The pain I go through is quite distracting and if I am not able to control my mind, it is not my fault because the pain is really very severe and even the strongest of the willed cannot withstand it. I wish something could relieve the pain. I have been having attack after attack and after every attack I feel embarrassed at the thought of getting another attack. There is always a desire for work but it seems impossible because of the pain.”

This patient was able to move only when something strong diverted her mind.

WILL, muscles refuse to obey the will when attention is turned away

-EMBARRASSED, ailments after

Another thing to note about a Gelsemium is that he is happy only living in the past; he does not live in the present nor is he interested in looking ahead to the future.

Two rubrics EXHILARATION and MIRTH denote the sense of happiness.

Exhilaration: it means a sense of elation. He derives pleasure recalling his successful adventures of the past.

-EXHILARATION can recall things long forgotten

It is the wind of `exhilaration’ which comes out of the happy thoughts of his golden past on which he floats and flies and the mirth gives him the sense of enjoying those ideas in his mind.

A patient says, “I feel energetic the moment I recall my past. Like while talking to my friends or family members about the way we used to enjoy or the way I spent my good days before getting

sick I get cheerful. I feel very good after I remember those days when I used to walk for 10 km. at a stretch without getting tired. But then when I think about the present I get very sad.

-CHEERFUL # sadness

Means, he feels contented with what has passed, but he is not happy about his present. The wavering of his self-control leads him to cling to his past and to gain control over himself. Another thing which makes him feel good is compliments from others for his past deeds. But if he gets the slightest opposition he finds it difficult to manage himself even though he knows the opposition is baseless.

One more thing that disturbs him is bad news.

-AILMENTS, bad news from

The news may not actually be bad in the real sense, yet it can be bad for him in the sense that it is a disturbing factor in his present peaceful state. A Gelsemium patient likes every moment to take him upwards (like the rising sun), where light i.e. hopefulness and optimism dwells and shines and not downwards towards darkness (despair) where he loses confidence in himself, and cannot even maintain his balance. He is a confused person and the more he attempts to come out of his confusion the more confused he becomes. He even doubts his own identity. He thinks that his real self is missing, that someone else is residing in him, that he is not a single person but two. Also, that he is lying in his own grave. About his sickness, he believes that it is someone else who is sick.

[dr. deoshlok sharma]

Characteristics:

1. Loneliness and insecurity. He wants to be alone without any sort of interference. On being disturbed they are quick to feel irritability, anger and resentment even when someone has approached him for offering his help. This symptom is quite apparent when passing through a phase of acute ailment. He shuns motion in all the three mental, emotional and physical levels and wants to lie perfectly still in a dark place. He becomes irritable on slightest provocation and holds other responsible for his misery.

Dreads to be disturbed.

2. Fear of loosing his fortune. They are conscious of their financial well - being and talk of business. They are afraid of being poor.

3. Responsible people do not hesitate to shoulder any sort of responsibility for the well being of their family still inside they always carry a thought simultaneously that relates to their concern for their financial security.

4. In an aggravated state of a particular disease most commonly falls in to a despondent state leaving everything to the will of Almighty (not Ars./Calc.). But in our day-to-day activity we find that the patients visiting us give their expressions in local languages, and sometimes it becomes very difficult for us to equate with those contained in Repertory.

Following conversation might have taken place between you and your patient. "Dr" says your patient, "You see, I am a poor person. If I stop attending to my business, I will not be able to meet my daily needs. So Please do not stop me from going to my work by aggravating my troubles."

If I stop attending to my business? Business talks of

That he will lose the day's earnings? Fear poverty of

He further adds, "the other more important thing about me is that I fear pain, like anything. It is really dreadful, and that is why the very idea of it makes me shudder." And on further questioning how he feels like during the suffering, he replies, "I simply like to remain quiet in all respects. No movement, no talking, except talking about my business which I do on my own initiative and at my own convenience and do not like that anybody else should disturb me in any way.

"If this goes, he will be alright. “means if this trouble which is disturbing him like a thorn in his body, is pulled out he will be alright?

Disturb averse to being

Except that I want to remain quiet? Quiet, wants remain

Let no one disturb me? Disturb, averse to being

Now take the example of another patient, who comes to you and says, "Dr., I do not know, What is happening to me." And adds further," Can you give medicine without asking any questions from me about my condition, because I am not able to understand as to what to tell you."

5. Capricousness

6. weeping, tearful mood, nervous all day

And on further enquiry, "but you want me to help you?" he replies, "Dr., I know only this much that I do not have any other problem except this one (about which I am not actually aware of) and if this goes away I shall be alright."

"But why are you weeping?

"I simply do not know, except this that I have been getting nervous all the time,"

That this weeping is due to his nervousness

Mean boss:

He is bad to his subordinates or employees. If some one needs to take his son to the doctor and asks for a day off, most probably Mr. Bryonia will deny the leave. Usually curses and accuses to his employee that they are lazy and just want paycheck without doing any work. He is suspicious that nobody wants to work but make more money off him.)

1. Fears poverty and starving

2. Industrious mania for work.

3. Restless in bed

4. When sick wants to rest in peace but jumps up to talk business.

5. Forgets his ailments when talking or involved in business.

6. Greedy, cruel, self pity, dishonest.

7. Does not care for others.

8. Heavy bargainer.

9. Too many desires

10. Wants complete silence.

Even little sound made by water drops bothers him. Thinks this time he tolerated the pain but next time he won’t.

At home he will fight and curse his wife, “You wive are no good, and your parents didn’t teach you a dam."

If his subordinates, kids or wife don’t follow him he gets in rage.

When he goes to Doctor he can even steal medicines or things.

In fevers, the most guiding symptom is giddiness while getting up from bed. It is very prominent in Bryonia.

Fever with dry lips (the patient licks their lips often).

Walking into warm room excites cough in a Bryonia patient.

Urine is brown in colour like beer and hot.

[Eileen Naumann]

Vine symbolizes many things. One has to be careful how to look at one. There are many different kinds, and they each have a unique definition. Vines can cling/climb/spread out and take over.

They can be strong and rigid. Weak and wimpy. Choking. Killing. Struggle for survival.

One must look at each kind of vine as a unique individual. Not all vines are clingy. Nor do all of them choke or kill off others in order to survive. Each must be looked at to assess their modus operandi.

A vine is something that has tendrils that curl and fix themselves around something else. Usually it is something stronger, more stable and rigid than themselves. However, this doesn't have to be so.

Being a vine, one must get into their mind set and ask why they do what they do. A vine has this adaptive reflex in order to survive. In a triple canopy of South America, the only way a plant can live is

to get to the sunlight. Plants don't have legs to walk with, so they have adapted by creating tendrils either from the stem of the plant, or from the tip of the leaf, to climb toward the sunlight so they can make chlorophyll in order to survive. If they don't fight and struggle upward, they die.

This particular knowledge is intrinsic to most vine type people. There are other vines that snake and curl around to choke out another plant so that it dies and they then have the room to receive

that spot of sunlight, instead. There are vines that kill other plants and suck and drain them of their life fluids, in order to survive. Cusc-e. (= Dodder) is a good example of this. Each type of vine is a particular mind set.

We can generally put vines into several categories based upon their above behavior.

Vines cling for survival. They climb. They are driven, almost obsessively, to climb higher. In human psychology terms, this would be a person who is a Type A personality who must win, must be 'top dog' and survive at all costs. Not only that, but be successful about it.

A very good illustration of this is Bry. This is a member of the Gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. The gourd is symbolic of a person's head. Possibly, a tumor, which is round and holds some thing.

Bry. grows in well drained, neutral to alkaline soil and loves the sun. It does not like the shade. The root is a tuber (symbolizing a bowl, a gourd or a cup in which some thing is held and also associated with tumor production or head related ailments). Bry. has many curled tendrils that are offshoots from the stem. If one looks at the homeopathic rubrics, there is a definite agreement between them.

Bry. people are business people. They may own a Mom and Pop business, a small business, or a mighty corporation. The reason why they do is security driven and materialistic.

Why? Because they have vines as part of their Doctrine of Signature. Bry. likes to be top dog. The only time s/he gets riled is when her movement to the top is stopped for some reason out of her control. Then, she gets splitting migraine headaches (the gourd family, the tuber root), is irritable, angry (Bry. has red berries, and red rules rage, anger, irritation and irritability, among many other things), doesn't want the light (just the opposite of the plant, which loves the sun), doesn't want to move (and this is typical of a vine plant - they are better in a fixed, stable, static position). Vines are anchoring into someone or something else in order to achieve stability. In Bry.'s case, security and stability are essential, but we see it in the DOS of the plant.

It has tendrils (vines). It 'climbs' other bushes, trees and shrubs in order to get the most light of all. They climb several yards (1 meter is 3 yards) in 1 summer! This plant moves fast, and moves like a corporate raider, taking no prisoners to get what s/he wants: sun (this equates to money, fame, greed, fortune, placement, food, air, water and honors) light. This is security to this plant because sun equates with survival. Interestingly, as a vine-related plant, Bry. is typical in that it will take on someone bigger that itself - a shrub or even a towering tree, and wrap its tendrils around it, climb it and get what it wants. This vine plant can be a bully, and sometimes Bry. vine people have been bullies as children. But we all know that a bully is really fearful inside, with low self-esteem and they attack to stop potential attacks against them, first. That is survival reflex. The Bry. person is the same way. Corporate raider is a label to attach to this person. That doesn't infer anything negative, however. Bry. and other vine people can certainly be leaders in the business world. The more interesting question is why they are a leader and a successful business person who is driven into Type A behavior (industrious, a mania for work, a workaholic), however.

A vine person achieves business success for the reasons of security. Security means being top dog. Means bringing in sufficient amounts of money. All this equates with stability, then, in their psyche. Materialism means security and stability. Where Bry. gets in trouble is that they get in over their head is that they are working so hard, perhaps 12 - 16 hours a day, 5 7 days a week, that they go into an exhaustion phase.

Their mind (the gourd family / Bry. has a berry that is round. Round symbolizes the head, also) goes to 'mush' and they can't think their way out of a paper bag, much less do any counting of money or checking their stock portfolio! Like all vines, there is a terrible inner insecurity to them. They cannot stand on their own two feet. No, they need the help, stability and support of others (bush, shrub, trees or family, business partner or spouse). That's a terrible realization to make that one cannot ever do anything without support from somewhere else.

Consequently, vine / Bry. has fear of poverty (her stability will be yanked out suddenly from her without warning and she, the vine, looses her security), anxiety about the future (every vine worries about the day their unsteady superstructure might fold their tent and go away), and mental insecurity (because they did not climb up to the top on their own - they had a lot of people, i.e., brush, shrubs and trees, to get there to the top). Bry. may project a prodigious confidence, but inside s/he is worried that others might see through her and see where her weaknesses are located.

Every vine is anxious about their stability. And why not? They should! Whatever the vine climbed up on, could die and then it will find itself no longer in the air, but on the ground. Some vines are very aggressive, move fast, and take over a lot of territory in a short amount of time. Bry. alba is one such vine.

The fact that they can grow several yards in a summer, is pretty amazing. This is a fast plant, a take-over raider-vine, and so is the Bry. person. That's all they know; how to battle, scratch, scramble, climb and strive to get to the top of the heap to the get the sunlight. And their reputation is everything to them; to be on top, to be seen as the best. Top dog.

Interestingly, Bry., even when delirious with a fever, will mutter incoherently about business! Because business, to them as a vine person, is where and how they can survive! Because Bry. loves direct, full sun, the vine-person prefers light, airy rooms in which to work. Like most vines, they like to be left alone (of course, a vine doesn't want any intruders sneaking in on their territory they've claimed). They do not like the company of others. They are best when left alone. Vine people, in general, are very sensitive people.

If you look at their tendrils, which are very tender, soft and delicate (although usually super strong despite their initial appearance....) they need an environment that is quiet, secure, with no one bothering them. Music, children laughing, talking or crying, or noise of any kind, offends them. Vine people see other people barging in and intruding upon them as an offensive attack. Much like a vine that is in place being taken on by another plant, and then it feels panicked, intimidated and anxious about its survival. Vines don't like a lot of movement. Once they have wrapped their tendrils around a more stable object, they hate displacement or movement of any kind for obvious reasons. Bry. < movement/bending forward/with exercise. How like a vine! Bry. > rest and pressure applied to the affected part.

I find vines like pressure - they press themselves flatly and fully against the stable shrub, bush or tree. So, pressure equates with stability, and something healthy in their psyche of survival.

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