Fear of people is a prominent state of distress exhibited in many different ways in several homeopathic remedies. Understanding the fear of people through analysis of the essence of a particular remedy gives insight into the state of fear unique to that substance.
The following is a selection of scenarios which describe fear of people in Baryta carbonica, Natrum carbonicum, Hyoscyamus niger, and Pulsatilla nigricans.
We will begin with fictitious dramatisations and see how the fear of people can manifest distinctively in each remedy. Thereafter, the remedy will be described according to the symptomatology recorded in the Materia Medica ‘provings’ on healthy volunteers.
Baryta Carbonica [Carbonate of Barium]
The Drama
Six-year-old Jordan and his mom are visiting Granny. Jordan likes to go to her house because things are familiar there. He always plays in the kitchen, filled with his toys, while Granny in her favourite apron prepares his favourite foods.
However, today, Jordan is upset when he enters Granny’s kitchen because Granny has redecorated for Jordan’s Special Birthday and has also bought a new apron for her part in the celebration.
Jordan is taken aback. He is in an unfamiliar environment and is wondering who this person with the strange apron is. She looks like Granny, but something is different.
He does not see his toys. First, he runs to mom and clings to her and then darts under the table to hide.
Mom coaxes him into the next room which has remained untouched and is familiar to him. His toys are there and Granny brings the traditional apron for Jordan to see. He begins to feel at ease again.
The Remedy
Baryta carbonica is a remedy that exhibits slow development on all levels. There is a paralysis of mind and body, mistrust and lack of self-confidence, aversion to strangers and the unfamiliar and a deficiency of memory. People are unfamiliar and are to be feared.
Baryta carbonica children do not want to play [playful, indisposition to play with children]. It is difficult for the child to learn and remember [forgetful of words while speaking with weakness of memory].
Children can be mentally, or physically, dwarfish. They can be docile, clumsy, timid [carefulness], and sensitive [sensitive, oversensitive to noise, and to male voices. They may find it difficult to understand what is going on and, therefore, become too dependent on their parents and uneasy in the presence of strangers. They believe they are being laughed at [hide, child thinks all visitors laugh at him and holes up behind the furniture].
The Bartya carbonica child, or individual, always seems to be in a place that is unfamiliar. It is no wonder they fear people. They can never quite comprehend what is going on [confusion of mind], and so the new and unfamiliar is frightening. If one thing is out of place, they will become confused and not understand. They need structure and routine and require programming. They cannot handle complex matters. They are socially passive and family-oriented [strangers, presence of aggravates]. Given this basic temperament, fear of people figures prominently in the remedy.
Natrum Carbonicum [Carbonate of Sodium]
The Drama
“No, I will not go to the concert, especially with your friend Dotty with her incessant giggle and fiery red hair that drive me mad.” And, you know what hearing music does to me. All of those people in the audience rattling their programmes makes my heart palpitate. You know how I overreact to all that sensation. I’d much rather spend the night alone in meditation in order to transcend all the suffering in the world. No, I’m not going to the concert, I cannot deal with all that ‘energy.’”
The Remedy
Natrum carbonica‘s fear of people arises from a problem with assimilating things, emotionally, mentally and physically. They are acutely sensitive, and cannot digest things and accordingly have to monitor their environment.
In this remedy, we see an aversion to certain people. There is always one person they don’t like, but don’t know why [sensitive, oversensitive to certain persons]. There are certain types, or groups, of people they can’t stand to be around and have to avoid. They cannot assimilate that particular energy. [company, aversion to: avoids the sight of people]. They are sensitive, and oversensitive to sensual impressions.
They have pet peeves. Certain things about people annoy them. For example, a certain hair colour or mannerism. They withdraw from stresses.
The remedy progresses deeper and deeper into a reclusive stage where they want solitude and shelter themselves from the suffering of the world. They don’t want to associate with people because it is a stress they can’t assimilate [fear of people]; so, there is an aversion to company and the human race.
Hyoscyamus Niger [Henbane]
The Drama
Dapper Hyoscyamus niger is at a party and is dressed to ‘kill’ in extremely tight pants that clearly outline his manhood. The zipper in his trousers is open; his shirt plunges to the waist.
He is wearing powerful cologne to mask his characteristic sour-smelling perspiration.
He is cheerful and extroverted, at least on the surface. He laughs and dances and sings his obscene songs.
Yet, he desperately wants to escape the scene, for in opposition to his sanguine façade, is his powerful jealousys and suspicion, the basis of his fear of people.
He suspects that party-goers who profess to be his friends are out to get him. He twitches as he watches his wife talk to her favourite male cousin. She’s being unfaithful. And, all those others, he mutters to himself, “They are out to injure me. Look at them, they are all watching me. I must hide. And, besides I’ve wet my trousers,”
The Remedy
The underlying disturbance in Hyoscyamus niger is jealousy and suspicion [jealousy, suspicion]. We see inner feelings of being deserted, forsaken and also an extremely paranoid state of fear of everyone.
He suffers from ailments from scorn. He lives in fear of being hurt, or injured, by others, i.e., in a perpetual state of suspicion [delusion; he is being injured by his surroundings; that he is being watched; pursued by enemies]. There is fear of people. Also, delirium of fancied wrongs.
Hyoscyamus niger believes that everything is being done to him; that he is being wronged; that he is being given a hard time. It is these imaginings that lead to his fear of people.
Pulsatilla Nigricans [Pasque Flower]
The Drama
Pretty Phoebe Pulsatilla is weeping again. “I can’t understand why my lover has left me,” she wails. It’s just like when I was a child and my dad left me in the dark movie theatre for too long when he went to get popcorn; and, all those times when I was taken away from my friends because mom had to move from city to city because of her asthma.”
“People are always disappearing from my life. I feel so lonely and forsaken. I’ll never trust anyone again. I’m afraid to. People always end up hurting me. Now all I do is fear them.”
The Remedy
Pulsatilla’s fear of people stems from the remedy’s deep-seated feeling of being abandoned and forsaken [abandoned, forsaken].
Soft, changeable Pulsatilla becomes dependent, needing warmth and love.
She needs affection to feel secure. She may be haunted by the memory of being left alone. This memory contributes to her wariness of people, a fear of becoming attached and loving and then being abandoned.
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