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| Hpathy Ezine - Jan., 2005 | ||||
| Mercury Salts -- Leela D'Souza |
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| (This case was presented for discussion by Dr. Manish Agarwal on a public board. Below are relevant details. The complete case, analysis and discussions are available here. ) Male 30 years, unmarried, is very intelligent with an eye for detail.
He was a brilliant scholar till the psychiatric illness took hold
and he could not finish his studies. He is spiritually inclined,
interested in meditation, with strong spiritual beliefs. Father
was an obsessive compulsive patient (now dead). Mental State: Memory very weak for facts, road / streets / what
he just said (though he won a prize for photographic memory when
he was 8 years old). He cannot study because of this. Introvert. Clairvoyant. Likes thunderstorms. Always hurried. Meticulous and a perfectionist. He has struggled a lot in his life. Always wants to do things with perfection. Even in this mentally sick condition he has written books and papers (on philosophy). But he has to put a lot of effort for this. Though his mind fails, he tries to read medical topics. He puts in extreme efforts to study and is in a constant struggle to improve his health. He is very sensitive to admonition and reprimand. He likes consolation and sympathy. He weeps easily. What are his inter-relationships like? What is his life situation? He feels that he is a failure. Basically he is extremely talented
and is a genius, with a very sharp intellect. He sees himself more
a failure because of this. He feels that he could have done something
really great had he not been afflicted with a psychiatric problem.
Life has been a struggle because of his mental problems and physical
weakness. Many remedies by many homeopaths have broken him further
and he wonders if he will ever get well. Why does he need to project this image? What would happen if
he could not project this image? He doesn't want others to know about his mental state. I think illness was inherited from his father. Both have the same symptoms. The whole thing was triggered when he was 20 yrs. of age. His father had died 8 or 10 years earlier. Since he was a topper (top of the class) throughout, there was heavy parental pressure to study / get into a good profession. This caused a mental breakdown and he had to leave his studies. Physicals and generals: Sickening sweetish odour in stool, urine , perspiration, semen Very thirsty – large quantities of water at a time. Likes sweets(++) , salt or sour (+). likes spicy food (++) Other complaints: He developed this problem after a meditation course, where he had put an intense effort in meditating. There is a feeling of pressure / obstruction / constriction in the region of the root of nose, which is very difficult to explain. Sometimes it changes location to the centre of forehead, then sometimes above eyebrows and then sometimes the dorsum of nose. It is aggravated with meditation, concentration on the area, mental exertion and eye strain. It is ameliorated with sleep. Chronic history of tonsillitis, more on the left side with pus pockets formation and referred pain to the ears. Tendency to recurrent cough colds. Left sided nasal turbinate hypertrophy with left sided nasal polyp. Neurofibromas: Hard neurofibromas. First on right thigh, then second on left of the abdomen below the costal margin, a third on right arm, fourth and fifth on left upper arm. These are the main big ones. There are several small ones here and there. All were painful in beginning - painless hard later. Analysis: - However he likes to hold forth and "preach" - likes to project an image that he knows everything and is very intelligent. He does this in the presence of people whom he can boss over or who know less than him. Loquacity. - He presents a ‘manufactured image’ to others. He hides his symptoms. He has a fear of examinations. Sexual desire is strong and he masturbates often. Spiritual yet he feels a strong need to express his sexual desire. - He needs to project an image to protect his low confidence and hide his failures / illness / abnormality. He tries to show that he is normal and vibrant. He feels guilty about his shortcomings and the sexual encounters. He feels worthless / let down / broken / insulted / humiliated when he cannot project this image or when someone realises the real situation.
The other characteristics including the "main" complaint could be easily repertorized as below: 1. HEAD; CONSTRICTION; Forehead; eyes, over the X
HEAD PAIN; The remedy indicated in this analysis was clearly MERC SOL. It covered all these rubrics, except the left sided throat inflammation which is covered by MERC-I-R. (instead). There were furthur indications that fitted the case and included the expressions mentioned earlier, based on the Materia Medica. From Vermellen's Concordant: Slow in answering questions. Memory weakened, and loss of willpower. Weary of life. Mistrustful. Thinks he is losing his reason; and will die, has numerous illusions. Hurried; in speech. Suspicious in daytime. Chaotic. Confusion; loses his way in well-known streets.Fear; at night; of robbers; of suicide. Heedless. RESTLESSNESS AT NIGHT.
What was interesting about this case was the indication of Merc
IR, rather than Merc Sol, which is what was indicated with
repertorization. It was later observed that the patient had marked
left sided symptoms besides the throat, which elevated this tendency
to a strong general. Hence the choice of Merc IR was more
appropriate. It has begun the process of cure where no other remedy
was able to do anything for this man, in more than 10 years.
Roger Morrison: Has one of the best descriptions of the core of the Mercury state. Introversion. On the emotional level, the Mercury patient tends to be withdrawn and introverted. The emotions are often strong internally but are rarely given expression. The patient feels different than other people and has a sort of instinctive reserve about expressing himself or even a suspiciousness of others. He puts on a facade of normality and conservatism. The patient will often confirm a noteworthy symptom: It is necessary for him to feel that the person he speaks to is listening carefully, with undivided attention or he will be unable to speak. This need for deep congruency may explain why many Mercury patients feel more comfortable in homosexual relationships. Impulses. Often in Mercury cases these intense emotions which are withheld take the form of impulses. The patient has a strong impulse to strike or even kill an offending person. But these intense feelings are almost never revealed to others. In fact the Mercury patient often will cultivate a deeply conservative and proper appearance toward the world. Anxiety. Deeper breakdown states occur in some Mercury patients. The inefficiency of mind often is a cause for concern, and to compensate the patient begins to hurry to try to accomplish all of his responsibilities. Eventually he finds that he is constantly rushing about. The Mercury patient may develop deep phobias and anxieties, especially about his mental health. He comes to the interview looking emotionally weak and broken. This is a remedy we must keep in mind for advanced states of depression, paranoia and even organic brain disease and imbecility. Children. The Mercury child is often very precocious and seems to have almost adult-like emotions. He can seem flirtatious, intense and sensitive. The child has strong emotions and can be very irritable. More often the child is shy or withdrawn. In almost all cases the child suffers with poor resistance to infections - chronic otitis media, pharyngitis and stomatitis. The child usually exhibits the typical confirmatory keynotes. Some Central Rubrics of the Mental State from Knerr’s repertory: ANGUISH: Stool, before. 0>1>0 Rajan Sankaran: In my experience with Merc-I-F, these people have violent, destructive and impulsive qualities but the destructive quality is not as much as in Merc-sol. I found that these patients are extremely energetic (like Iod: very active), have a very strong desire to travel (Merc, Iod) and need to be occupied. Hence they take up jobs where they can travel. Their energy seems inexhaustible. They are very cheerful and talkative; may even sing and whistle - a sort of elated, manic state. At the same time, they can get intensely angry, especially when they feel betrayed/attacked. The symptoms are right sided as opposed to Merc-I-R which has an affinity for the left side. The pathology is destructive and glands are often involved. They may crave salt and sour things. |
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