| This young man was nearing 15 years of age when
first seen in December of 2007. He has Down syndrome, and his mother
provided most of the initial history. Her main concerns included
threatening and aggressive behavior, running away, staying up late
at night and not going to school.
Mother: He's always trying to be funny and tell jokes. He likes
it when people compliment him. He likes to be the center of attention
and the life of the party. He teases all the time.
(Observation: The patient was enjoying mimicking his mother as
she was talking.)
He's also kind of a loner, but it doesn't bother him. He stays
in his room alone. He doesn't crave company. He loves ballroom dancing,
but also wild dancing. He loves wild music and going crazy. He hoards
and steals things. He notices everything, and is calculating and
pre-meditated in his actions. He's watching and waiting for his
opportunities. He always acts strongly and forcefully. He's so quick
and incisive in his actions.
(Observation: The patient occasionally tilts his head back and
howls while his mother talks.)
He'll threaten people. He says things like 'I hate Jody's boyfriend--I
want to kill him', or 'I had to choke Taylor--he wouldn't move out
of the way'. He'll stay up all night, and then be too tired to go
to school the next day. We've had to call the police to get him
to go to school. A judge ordered him to do thirty hours of community
service because of his school truancy. He loves to be helpful if
it fits into this schedule, but doesn't like to be told what to
do. He used to run away all the time. He wants to be the alpha dog.
He wants to be the fastest and jump the highest. He's always arm-wrestling,
wanting to beat people, to be the "macho-man". He says
he likes Alan because 'he's a strong man'.
Patient: I'm the fastest swimmer.
He loves girls and kisses them. He wants them all. He has a strong
sex drive. Sometimes he'll dance with me and tease his dad: 'I have
the girl and you don't'.
He wants to save everyone. He loves little children and brings
milk to them. He wants to protect people, to protect the little
ones. But he's also very good at figuring out the person who's the
vulnerable one--who he can target.
He's scared of wolves, foxes, and coyotes. If he was outside alone
at night, he'd be scared. He doesn't like scary music.
Patient: Wolves have green eyes. I was scared when I was little.
When I'm old, I won't be afraid.
Mother: Sometimes he'll play with his own poop. He's warm-blooded.
His diet is milk, bread, pizza and eggs. If he eats chocolate, he'll
vomit.
Note: At this point the mother left the room, and the patient began
talking about coyotes:
Patient: Coyotes are afraid of us and we're afraid of them. They
hide in caves and give birth at night. They can come out at night
because they're safe then. They howl. I saw one a long time ago.
They sleep during the day and come out at night. Coyotes get a mate--a
female--and they give birth to cubs.
Assessment: A previous homeopath had prescribed
hyoscyamus with no benefit, and yet hyoscyamus is found in many
appropriate rubrics. However, while patient enjoys attention he
doesn't crave company and isn't bothered by being alone. Besides
the sexuality found in hyoscyamus, there are many other animal themes
throughout the history, including competition, nurturing, and protection
of others. I felt the patient's strong attraction to coyotes was
especially significant, and was also reminded of the coyote's reputation
as a "trickster" in Native American lore.
Plan: Lac canis latrans (coyote's milk)
1M, single dose
This patient's mother has used homeopathy for many years, so checked
in regularly by phone. After the initial dose in December '07, the
IM potency was repeated in February '08 and July '08. The patient
has not needed another dose since that time. The following is his
mother's summary of improvement to the present:
When we initially came in, we were at our wits' end. There’s
been so much improvement, it's hard to remember the difficulties.
Although he'll still hoard things, all the negative stuff has faded
away. He still jokes around and engages in his witty repartee, but
it's without the aggression or violence. He no longer targets vulnerable
people. All the inappropriate sexual behavior is gone. He goes to
bed early, gets up early and gets himself dressed and ready for
school. His teachers have been amazed by all the changes. He's so
nice, wonderful, friendly, outgoing and social. The remedy truly
changed his life--and ours.
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David Johnson, CCH, RSHom(NA) is an instructor
for the Northwestern Academy of Homeopathy in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He works at the Ommani Center for Integrative Medicine in Pewaukee,
Wisconsin, and has a private office in Madison, Wisconsin. |