Organonic anamnesis

7. Symptoms

According to aph. 6 symptoms are all deviations from the formerly healthy state of the dis-eased, including:

1. what the patient feels himself;

Aph. 90 discusses how the patient has behaved himself during the consultation; whether he was morose, quarrelsome, hasty etc. The homeopath must ascertain himself how much of that was peculiar to the patient in his healthy state.

1. what his companions notice about him;
2. what the doctor observes:

Aph. 91 indicates that one must be aware of the influence of allopathic remedies on the condition of the patient. So it is necessary to take notice of the patient’s complaints/symptoms in the period before he started using this medication.

Altogether they form the illness in its full form which means they form the only true and only thinkable image of the illness.

8. Particulars

Hahnemann pointed out that particulars are an essential part of the anamnesis. Aph. 5 states that “Useful to the physician…..are the particulars of the most probable exciting cause, of the acute disease as also the most significant points in the whole history of the chronic disease, to enable him to discover its fundamental cause, which is generally due to a chronic miasm.”

So particulars are special or significant qualities regarding the patient, the disease or the cause of it.

This concerns the:

– physical constitution of the patient;

– his moral and intellectual character;

– his occupation, mode of living and habits;

– his social and domestic relations;

– his age, sexual function, etc.

9. Modalities

In aph. 86 Hahnemann stipulates that of every symptom must be asked:

– when did it happen

– what kind of pain was it, which sensation

– where was it (which bodypart)

– was it constant, with flares or on different times

– how long did it last

– when was it at its worst or best

– how did the sensation feel exactly

Finally aph. 95 concludes that “The investigation of the signs of disease……..must be pursued as carefully and circumstantially as possible and the most minute peculiarities must be attended to…………..”

According to Hahnemann, this is all the more essential because chronic patients have become used to their ill state and have forgotten the details and characteristics of it.

10. Conclusions

Hahnemann intended us to create a full picture, both of the disease and the patient. Therefore he started with dividing diseases and splitting them further up. This was not for fun, but to give us a handy tool to analyse the case thoroughly and make it possible to prescribe on the real causes of the disease. It is obvious that miasms have an essential role in this totality, being in most cases the real cause of the disease.

So, as the master said before: copy it, but copy it exactly as I meant it.

Cor van der Meij

Literature

“Organon of medicine”, 6^th edition by Samuel Hahnemann

“The principles of art and cure by homeopathy” by Herbert Roberts

“Hahnemann verstehen” by Ewald Stoteler