Words: Dr Joseph KELLERSTEIN
Her mom was quite exasperated when she spoke to me. I can understand why. “Sophia has two definite sides to her personality. She is five, but acts like three, especially at home. On the other hand, she is quick to anger and that anger becomes a rage. Her face will flush and her eyes grow large. It is definitely a wild look. The anger escalates to violence with hitting, biting and spitting. She will throw things at me. Even from birth her screams would become loud quickly. There are threats and cursing. She has been picking a lot at her nails and this since she was three.”
Sophia rebels and hates “being bossed.” She feels excluded and worse. “You hate me,” or “you are trying to trick me.” Mom thinks that these feelings underlie a kind of suspicion that results in this behaviour. During the morning and evening routines she really fights with her parents. Mom relates that this young lady is very sensitive to the impression that people might laugh at her. She will not dance, or sing.
There are many bed-time challenges. Sophie will lie down on the floor and roll around until it becomes a fight. At night, the fear of monsters creeps in. “Red furry ones, they chase me, eat me and I die.” The bed-time scene sees clinging with fear and weeping. She will wake at night with the fears. She will wake and want to be tucked in. We must sit outside her door, without touching the door until she is asleep.
Sophie’s mind is absorbed in its own thoughts. She is a “dreamy kid.” Lately, it has been harder to reach her; so focused is she in her own dream world.
At an earlier age, mom was concerned she might be on the autistic spectrum. Homeopathic prescriptions like Stramonium had helped her “get back into her body.” Mom has her own guilt in this scenario. Post-partum she was haemorrhaging. As a result of this there was great muscular weakness and mom was afraid of dropping her, so she sent her away. Even now Sophia feels she is not “part of the family.” “You don’t love me.”
There is a strong craving for sugar which clearly aggravates her behaviour. It seems to have a drug-like effect. Television also seems to affect her behaviour. She loves salt and has an aversion to the fat on meat. Interestingly, when in an agreeable mood she will often speak with a child-like baby voice. She is different then, or has the aura of someone who is innocent, sensitive and pure.
At school she is social and overconfident, often taking charge in a group of her peers. She can also be quite mischievous. There is laziness. She hates having her hair brushed and will scream bloody murder. Sophia will apparently have difficulty remembering a sequence of tasks she has just been asked to do.
On the physical side of things, there have been issues with adenoids and phlegm does accumulate with a cold. There is a preference to go without socks and foot perspiration can be offensive. As a practitioner it took some deliberation to assess this landscape. There were several elements: rage, fear, childishness, suspicion and arrogance, not to mention “being absorbed in her ‘own’ world.”
Amazingly, homeopathy has carefully recorded the indications of the medicines we use and homeopaths through the centuries have just as carefully consulted these primary sources in order to find the best likeness of the suffering patient in a known medicine.
Based on my reading and a comparison of our young patient, I selected Veratrum album. Because, I was concerned with the possible sensitivity of this young lady, I elected to start with a low potency daily. The prescription was Veratrum album 30C, once daily. The first follow-up was one month later. “She has been a gem.” We see she is affectionate towards her sister. Her drawing is more mature. She is proud of earning gold coins at school. Mom feels there is an 80 per cent decrease in her abusive behaviours. There is less picking of the fingernails. At night, there is a marked decrease in the level of fear and clinginess.
Most striking for me [as a practitioner] was mom’s warm observation that Sophie now feels more a part of the family and sees less criticism in the action of others.
In the past she might perceive even a loving smile in a negative light and react as if offended with a sneer. There were changes even on the first day. Homeopathy is a constant miracle and a sharp reminder that there are yet great mysteries to solve.
