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“From the age of 13 I suffered from hay-fever and nothing the doctor did helped. My mother took me to a homeopath and my hay-fever went, and it also helped greatly with allergies and asthma. It’s the most effective treatment I have ever tried including conventional medicine.”
Cindy Lund
“From the age of 13 I suffered from hay-fever and nothing the doctor did helped. My mother took me to a homeopath and my hay-fever went, and it also helped greatly with allergies and asthma. It’s the most effective treatment I have ever tried including conventional medicine.”
Cindy Lund

Category: Health

MPs want complementary, traditional and natural medicine to rescue NHS from financial crisis

PRESS RELEASE 13TH DECEMBER 2018


Changing health needs requires different approach, says new report

In 70 years of the NHS patients’ health needs have changed. Growing numbers of people suffering from long-term illnesses pose significant threats to the future sustainability of the NHS, a new report released by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Integrated Healthcare warns.

MPs urge the NHS to embrace complementary, traditional and natural medicine to ease the mounting burden on service provision.

The report says that the rising costs to the health system require a whole person approach to health delivery which focuses on prevention and tackles the root cause of illness.

More patients suffer from multimorbidity (suffering from 2 or more long-term health conditions) than ever before, with the number of people in England with one or more long-term condition projected to increase to around 18 million by 2025.

A staggering 70% of total health expenditure on health and care in England is associated with treating the 30% of the population with one long-term condition or more.

The result of these complex health conditions is the growing problem of polypharmacy (the use of several drugs at the same time).

This is perhaps the biggest threat to the future economic viability of the NHS, with increasing costs of pharmaceutical drugs needed to treat patients with multiple illnesses, coupled with largely unknown effects of the long-term use of these drugs in combination.

The PGIH report argues that Government needs to devise a strategy to fully assess the degree of drug interactions, determine the long-term health effects on patients, and arrest the trend of over medicating the population.

A significant part of this strategy is to treat patients as whole persons, with individual needs, rather than with a variety of illnesses that are treated separately.

This strategy should make greater use of natural, traditional and complementary therapies, which are widely used for a variety of conditions. There is a huge under-utilised resource of therapists which could work in collaboration with conventional medicine to improve patient outcomes and ease the burden on the NHS.

Modern medicine has been very effective in tackling many of the health conditions we face today. However, there are areas, often called Effectiveness Gaps (EGs), where available treatments in modern clinical practice are not fully effective.

Musculoskeletal problems are commonly regarded as being affected by EGs. Depression, eczema, allergies, chronic pain, and irritable bowel syndrome are also frequently mentioned.

For these types of conditions a different approach is needed, one which does not involve giving more and more costly but ineffective drugs.

David Tredinnick MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group which produced the report, insisted that the current approach being taken by the Government is unsustainable for the long-term future of the country.

“Despite positive signs that ministers are proving open to change, words must translate into reality. For some time our treasured NHS has faced threats to its financial sustainability and to common trust in the system.”

“Multimorbidity is more apparent now in the UK than at any time in our recent history. As a trend it threatens to swamp a struggling NHS, but the good news is that many self-limiting conditions can be treated at home with the most minimal of expert intervention.”

“Other European governments facing similar challenges have considered the benefits of exploring complementary, traditional and natural medicines. If we are to hand on our most invaluable institution to future generations, so should we.”




 

Press release shared from iCAMhub

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Charity Commission Consultation ends 19th May - Please Act Now

The Charity Commission (CC) is currently conducting a public consultation on whether organisations promoting the use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) should have charitable status. They are seeking your views which you can supply by visiting:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-complementary-and-alternative-medicines

Homeopathic and other CAM organisations are making submissions but the more received from the pro-CAM public the better.  Please respond to the consultation and take action now!  If you feel uncomfortable answering all of the questions just answer a few, something submitted is better than nothing!

As you will see, the focus of this  consultation is on the evidence for the effectiveness of CAM therapies.  Your submission should be your own, however here are a few helpful points.

  • there are many types of evidence that should be considered when evaluating the effectiveness of a therapy. These include scientific studies, patient feedback and the clinical experience of  doctors  who  have trained in a CAM discipline.  Within Homeopathy there is considerable evidence which can be found (https://www.hri-research.org)

  • many conventional therapies and drugs  have inconclusive evidence or prove to be useful in only some cases, for example SSRIs (anti-depressants).  Inconsistent evidence is often the result  of the complexity of both  the medical  condition being treated and the therapy being used. It is not indicative of a therapy that doesn’t work

  • removing all therapies or interventions that  have inconsistent or inconclusive evidence would seriously limit the  public and the medical profession’s  ability to help treat and ease patients suffering.

  • all over the world there are doctors, nurses, midwives, vets  and other healthcare professional  who integrate  CAM therapies into their daily  practice because they see effectiveness. They would not use these therapies if they  did  not see their patients  benefitting from them.  For example in the UK, within the NHS hospital setting, outcome studies demonstrate effectiveness of homeopathy. (http://www.britishhomeopathic.org/evidence/results-from-the-homeopathic-hospitals/)

  • practitioners of many CAM therapies belong to registering bodies which expect their members to comply to the highest professional standards in regards to training and practice

  • In the UK the producers and suppliers of  CAM treatments (homeopathy, herbal medicine etc) are strictly regulated

  • as well as  providing valuable information to the  growing  number of people seeking to use CAM as part of their healthcare, CAM charities frequently fund treatment for those people, particularly the elderly and those on a low income, whose health has benefitted from these therapies but who cannot  afford them. This meets the charity’s criterion of  providing a public benefit.


You can also find out more of what you do to take action here at the Homeopathy Hub.
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Homeopathy for Colds and Influenza (Flu)

Homeopath and former Intensive Care Nurse, Ulrike Holzer shares her tips for those in the colder climates heading into the winter season:

Sneezing, sore throat, runny nose… we all know the first signs of a cold, probably the most common illness known. Colds and flu are infectious illnesses caused by viruses. There are many types and they vary from year to year.

The symptoms of common cold are the body’s way of responding to a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract. Through sneezing, nasal discharge, coughing and fever, the body expels and “burns out” the infecting viruses. Thus, these symptoms reveal the body’s efforts to re-establish health, and they should not be suppressed unless truly necessary. Homeopathic treatment can be used to improve the resistance to infection. Well selected remedies will speed up the healing process and reduce the development of catarrh, sinusitis and bronchitis.

Conventional medicines, such as nasal sprays, cough suppressants and fever suppressants may offer temporary relief from the symptoms of a cold, but they do so by hindering the body’s own defences. Nasal sprays and cold capsules slow down mucous production and therefore inhibit healing since mucous serves to cleanse the tissues of the virus and to protect them from further infection. Cough medicines block the body’s cough reflex, which can be problematic because coughing helps to clear breathing passages. Fever also is an important defence the body has against infection, and aspirin or paracetamol interferes with this protective response. Instead of relying on these suppressive medications, why not use homeopathy to help the body’s efforts to heal.

General Advice



  • Sleep: Sleeping is incredibly important for the body to rebuild, restore, and keep the immune system healthy. Sleep at least 7-8 hours every night. 

  • Eat light: Don’t overload your digestive system with heavy foods that not only give you stomach issues, but take a very long time to digest. Overeating is the culprit for many of us feeling lethargic and worn out an hour or two after meals, be sure you’re not burdening your digestive system with eating too much, too fast, with too many combinations. A healthy digestive system and gut is a healthy immune system! Make sure that you eat plenty of green vegetables – they are a good source of antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, beta-carotene. And don’t forget: garlic, onions, honey, coconut oil and oregano/oregano oil -they all contain beneficial properties like anti-microbials, anti-fungals, and anti-bacterial.

  • Spices: Foods that are nutrient dense and may help fight inflammation and bacteria include: honey, raw garlic, coconut oil, blueberries, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, mustard, green tea, cranberries, and chilli peppers/cayenne.

  • Drink water: Drinking water can often go overlooked when the seasons become cooler as we are sweating less naturally, we are not as hot, and we are not eating as many seasonally fresh juicy fruit (with high water content), yet our bodies require it just as much.

  • Exercise: Get moving daily, even if it’s for a walk around your neighbourhood or a good sweat session at the gym. Keeping your body moving will keep your immune system healthy amongst other things! Not to mention sweating through our skin, which is one of our largest detoxification organs, is beneficial.


Homeopathy for the Common Cold – Early Stages

  • Aconite: Very first signs of a cold. Sudden chill. Shivering. Sudden onset of symptoms. Frequent sneezing. Nasal mucous membranes are dry. Watery eyes, especially after exposure to dry, cold wind.

  • Allium cepa: Profusely running (watery and acrid – as when peeling onions) nose, causing very sore, raw nostrils and upper lip. Burning, smarting and watery eyes.

  • Dulcamara: Stiff neck and pain in the throat, back and limbs. Eyes and nose streaming. Sneezing. Brought on by being chilled when hot, or drenched in cold, wet weather.

  • Euphrasia: Eyes red and sore from burning discharge. Profuse sneezing. Profuse watery nasal discharge.

  • Natrum muriaticum: Cold starts with sneezing. Watery discharge from eyes and nose. Nasal discharge is thin and watery. Suitable for the introverted person.

  • Nux vomica: Sudden intense chill with shivering. Unable to get warm. Patient is irritable. Nose is dry and stuffed up.


Homeopathy for the Common Cold – Later Stages 

As a rule we tend to follow our own patterns in the way that a cold develops. Occasionally a particular type of infection will impose its own pattern on the patient. From the homeopathic point of view this does not matter – you choose the homeopathic remedy by matching the main symptoms of the patient and the remedy. Often there is a tendency of the watery discharge of the early cold to become secondarily infected. Thick, yellow or green catarrh develops at this point, and can be difficult to dislodge. The infection may spread to the chest, throat or ears.

  • Gelsemium: ‘Flu-like’ cold. Heavy head, tired heavy eyes. Backache with shivers up and down. Arms and legs ache. Sore nose. Wants to lie down and sleep.

  • Hydrastis: Stringy, yellow, nasal discharge, sticky and difficult to shift. Post-nasal drip.

  • Kali bichromicum: Thick, sticky, yellow or green nasal discharge. May be bloodstained, difficult to blow out. Thick, sticky crusts in nose.

  • Kali iodatum: Pain over the eyes. Stinging, watery nasal discharge. Violent sneezing. Smarting, watering eyes.

  • Mercury solublis: Thick, yellow, burning nasal discharge. Nostrils may be raw and ulcerated. Profuse sweating or chilled and shivering even in a hot room. Offensive breath.

  • Pulsatilla: Thick, greenish-yellow catarrh. Stuffy nose at night and indoors. Generally better in fresh air.


Influenza (Flu)

Influenza is the name given to a very large number of viral infections. It can occur all year round, but it’s particularly common in the cold winter months. It is often found that one or two specific homeopathic remedies for the majority of cases in any particular outbreak. The symptoms vary with each type of viral infection. Usually they divide into those that affect the nose, throat and chest and those that affect the stomach and the bowels. Both groups have general complaints of headaches, muscular aches & pains and fevers. Some viruses can cause bleeding, such as nose bleeds, altered periods, or bruising of the skin.

Homeopathy for the Flu – First Signs and Early Stages

  • Aconite: At the first signs of fever. Red, dry skin. Very thirsty for cold drinks. Anxious & agitated. Sudden chill, shivering. Violent and sudden onset of symptoms.

  • Arsenicum album: Streaming eyes and nose. Chilliness and very great prostration. Restless & anxious.

  • Baptisia: Very rapid prostration. High fever. Gastric symptoms. Stupor. Looks drugged, with dull red face. Patient complains of feeling “all in bits”.

  • Belladonna: Sudden, very high fever. Very red face. Throbbing headache, may be delirious. The eyes are glassy and the pupils are dilated.  Hates noise and bright light. May sweat, but usually hot and dry skin.

  • Ferrum phosphoricum: Gradual onset of mild fever. Sweaty skin, pallor and flushing face. May have nosebleeds, earache and painful tracheitis and cough, often going down into chest.

  • Nux vomica: Sudden intense chill with shivering. Unable to get warm. Patient irritable. Nose dry and stuffed up.


Homeopathy for the Flu – Later Stages

  • Bryonia: Sweating. Lies very still as every movement intensifies headache, aches & pains. Very dry mouth and throat. Very thirsty for large drinks of cold water.

  • Eupatorium perfoliatum: Back is sore, stiff and aching. Pain in the eyeballs. Muscles and bone pain. Thirsty for cold drinks.

  • Gelsemium: Red face and throbbing headache. Tired and drowsy. Shivers up and down the spine. Aches in back, joints and limbs. Not thirsty. Wants to lie down and sleep.

  • Rhus toxicodendron: Aches, pains, and stiffness, helped by movement. Sweating in bed, shivering if uncovered. Cold areas of body in spite of fever. Very thirsty for cold drinks.  Cold sores in and around mouth (herpes simplex).


 

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Please note: This article is for educational purposes only and not intended to replace the advice of your physician or health care provider. First aid situations may require medical or hospital care. Do not use this article as a means to diagnose a health condition. Speak to your doctor if you think that your condition may be serious, before discontinuing any medication that has been prescribed for you, or before starting any new treatment.

I hope this article helps you to select the correct homeopathic remedy when (if) you are coming down with a cold or the flu.

Ulrike Holzer  LSECH MSCH MARH Rhom

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Hayfever - an ideal place for homeopathy?

It's that time of year again, the one that all the warmth lovers eagerly anticipate (or at least hopefully wish for) and those who suffer from hay fever retreat inside, counting down until the season is over. The dark rooms, closed windows, sunglasses to cope and countless days of irritable sneezing, sniffing or weeping eyes, or the over the counter meds to get through each day. Neither of which make for a particularly glamorous sounding summer. Or that enjoyable either.

But what can homeopathy do? Well, as well as ideally helping to strengthen your own healing ability longer term and perhaps reduce the chance of getting the hay fever, whilst you're in the thick of the season you can also treat the symptoms with remedies that may help.

Following is a round up of the most commonly used remedies in hay fever:

Allium Cepa

  • Strong burning sensation from the eyes accompanied by a bland watery discharge - better open air.

  • The eyes are sensitive to light, often red and irritated with burning and smarting. 

  • Nose can become red and sore from the copious, burning, acid discharge. 

  • Sneezing on entering warm room. The voice can be hoarse and there can be a hacking cough on breathing in cold air. 

  • Allium cepa hayfever often comes on worse in spring or August, is worse for being in a warm room and better off for cool air. A peculiarity is that it particularly affects the left eye or nostril or may start off on the left side and spread to the right. 



Sabadilla




  •  Persistent and spasmodic sneezing, running nose, copious watery discharge and an itchy, stuffed up nose. 

  • The eyes water in the open air, from sunlight or whilst sneezing. 

  • Symptoms are also worse for cold air and there is usually improvement from eating warm food and warm drinks or from keeping warm. 




Euphrasia




  •  Eyes water all the time with acrid watering (cf Allium Cepa)

  • Burning and swelling of the lids (especially the lower), blinking, conjunctivitis like symptoms.

  • The nasal and throat symptoms are less marked but include profuse watery bland mucus, which is easily discharged. Euphrasia symptoms are worse for sunlight, evening and night-time, for windy weather and indoors, and better for the cool, open air.

  • Euphrasia tincture can also be used as a local eyewash by diluting one drop in an eyebath of cooled sterile water. 




Arundo




  •  Hayfever begins with burning and itching of the palate and conjunctiva.

  • Annoying itching of the roof of the mouth and in the nostrils sometimes with pain at the root of the nose.

  • Initially the nose can discharge clear mucus which can then turn green and slimy with lots of sneezing.

  • Loss of smell.




Wyethia




  • Intolerable itching felt on the roof of the mouth and behind the nose, sometimes extending into the throat and ears.

  • Irritable throat with dry cough.

  • Everything in the head feels dry and irritated, but the nose may still be runny.


(Information from www.materiamedica.org.uk)


Find out about how one sceptical vet discovered homeopathy and his experience with hay fever here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3PUF8mvUK8

To find a homeopath, or to find out more about homeopathy www.findahomeopath.org

Em Colley RSHom BSc(Hons) Practitioner of Classical Homeopathy

 

 

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A Homeopathic and holistic approach to the treatment of depression, with reference to current conventional management

Article with thanks to Gill Graham BSc (Hons) BA (Hons) RS Hom, DHMHS

‘By March, the worst of winter would be over.  The snow would thaw, the rivers begin to run and the world would wake itself up again.

Not that year.

Winter hung in there, like an invalid refusing to die.  Day after day the ice stayed hard, the world remained unfriendly and cold’ – Neil Gaiman

It may appear strange to have chosen the homeopathic treatment of depression in March, when spring is on our doorstep, with all the hope and beauty that brings, but contrary to popular belief, and according to the CDC, suicide rates peak in the spring. There are many reasons for this which will be discussed throughout this article. It is first necessary to define depression and analyse briefly the conventional approach to treatment. The Mayo Clinic describes it as such: ‘Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. You may have trouble doing normal day-to-day activities, and sometimes you may feel as if life isn't worth living.’

Conventional Psychiatrists claim that it is a chemical imbalance, a serotonin deficiency.  However, after six decades, since intensive research into depression began, there is not one single conclusive study to support that depression is caused by an imbalance in the brain. Harvard Medical School state: ‘It is often said that depression comes from chemical imbalance in the brain; in fact, that figure of speech doesn’t capture how complex the disease is.’ They go on to say it could be from faulty mood regulators in the brain, genetic vulnerability, stress, medications or medical problems. This will be expanded on from a holistic point of view later in this article. Conventional treatment is by way of antidepressants.  At times, there is undeniable empirical evidence that they can work, although there is speculation currently that this is due to the placebo effect and the passage of time.  The adverse effects however cannot continue to be hidden and in patients taking Prozac, possibly the most common SSRI, (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) a host of side effects may be experienced;  including sexual dysfunction, dry mouth, nausea, headache, diarrhoea, nervousness, restlessness, agitation, increased sweating, weight gain, insomnia and drowsiness. A more serious symptom is ‘Serotonin Syndrome’ a condition in which too much of the mood elevator is present in the brain, can occur within minutes, producing high blood pressure, hyperthermia, high body temperature and an increased heart rate that can lead to shock. Serotonin Syndrome can arise when SSRIs act alone or in conjunction with other medications. Prozac is one of the few antidepressants approved for treating depression in adolescents but the drug has been linked to suicidal thoughts and behaviour.  Since this evidence has become clear and undeniable, the FDA, in 2007, enhanced its original public warning to a ‘black box’ warning, which is often only given before a product is withdrawn from the shelves and involves pharmaceutical drugs that are dangerous and life threatening, in this case particularly, but not exclusively, for young people. (https://www.drugwatch.com/prozac/)

Clearly, it is time to re-evaluate all we have learnt, look at things from a different perspective and to stop allowing vulnerable people to be treated with chemicals which can lead to death. Much of the advice that follows will help the patient to reclaim their own power with regards to their health in the realisation that a pill is not necessarily going to cure the problem, or by buying into the myth of the ‘chemical cure.’ As has been shown, there are long term risks to medications such as these (SSRI’s) and efficacy is challenged. Patients who are informed can do much for themselves and will no longer be coerced in to a route that is perhaps not necessary; this freedom is surely liberating and strengthening in itself.

So why are the suicide rates highest in the spring and not as winter falls and the chaos that the holiday’s often brings? Paradoxically, spring is a time when most people are excited about the prospect of warmer weather, more daylight hours, and generally aware of colour literally and figuratively coming back in to the earth.  A season of blossoming and growth, of new life; a time to plan for the rest of the year and witness the flourishing and slow but definite blooming of nature’s garden. March heralds the vernal equinox, this year March 19th, and the earliest in history. Spring, a time, I feel of great polarity; the birthing of all things; creation and resurrection are clearly key words associated with the season, and in the case of Christ and the Christian calendar, this was not done without unparalleled agony, hence the analogy to birth. A time to start again, thrive and allow new growth, expression and energy.

However, people who have a tendency to depression often feel under pressure as spring approaches, the lighter nights and longer hours of daylight somehow expose them; it is reverse SAD (Seasonal affective disorder) which is little discussed. They can no longer hide as easily inside, using the dark and cold as an excuse to be anti-social and hibernate; it magnifies their feelings of inadequacy.  The vibrancy of the burgeoning brightly coloured flowers and blossoms, and new tangible energies, small reminders of their own personal darkness; their condition is exacerbated. Anxiety creeps in, their differences magnified, they are forced to adapt and adjust to a new season, the temporary comfort of the winter blankets is disturbed.  Any disruption in depression is potentially dangerous.

Deep analysis as to the cause of this insidious mental illness is vital, aside from periodicity; the conventional school of thought was briefly discussed above but it is necessary to take this a step further and examine other possible influences. There is evidence unremittingly coming to light, that toxicity through GMO’s, herbicides, pesticides and food additives are strongly linked to mental illness.  By adapting a holistic approach, through modifying the diet to food that has not been adulterated with chemicals, and keeping it as simple and pure as possible, avoiding allergens detected through testing, taking natural supplements as required, adequate sleep and exercise and minimising exposure to toxins of every variety, we could go a long way to improving mental health issues  Also, lifestyle habits and physical illnesses should be taken into account, as they could easily be affecting the mental state, as discussed. Only in addressing the totality is healing possible and by removing ‘maintaining causes’ which will prevent healing, no matter what form of medicine is given. In addition, the homeopathic consultation would obviously take into account the entire set of presenting symptoms given by the patient to the homeopath; by doing this the correct constitutional remedy is prescribed and in conjunction with the above approach, could be greatly beneficial to the overall health of a person suffering from depression.

The following are a list of possible homeopathic remedies which could be indicated:

Aurum Metallicum

To be considered when:

  • Constantly dwelling on suicide

  • Profound melancholy, feels hateful and quarrelsome

  • Feelings of emptiness, worthlessness, despair after perceived failure at work or in their personal life.

  • Symptoms often get worse at night or during the colder months, often alleviated however by calming music.

  • Loss of purpose in life, loneliness, particularly if a partner dies

  • Loathing of life

  • Guilt, often about what they should have said or done

  • Despair in terminal diseases, particularly cancer

  • Hopes of success squashed, depression creeps in insidiously

  • Can help physical and emotional despair

  • Oversensitive to contradiction, which excites wrath


Arsenicum Album

To be considered when:

  • Indifferent, melancholic, despairing

  • Anxious, fearful, restless, palpable anguish

  • Obsessive about ones health

  • Depressed when they failing to reach their own high standards.

  • Symptoms are usually worse in colder weather, and they are also very sensitive to pain.

  • Anxious and depressed; often the depression appears from severe anxiety about illness and the prospect of dying.

  • Often, obsessive compulsive behaviour is evident, like excessive handwashing Those requiring arsenicum often have obsessive-compulsive behaviour like hand washing. Much hypochondria, and huge fear of cancer, which is often a major cause of the depression.

  • Invariably they will go from one doctor to another, for reassurance.

  • Restlessness at night is a key symptom, as is pessimism

  • Indicated where both anxiety and depression are evident, particularly when accompanied by gastric symptoms, such as indigestion, diarrhoea and panic attacks.

  • Arsenicum individuals are generally fastidious and restless at the same time.

  • Despair and depression caused by feeling they will never be well again.

  • Fear is a key symptom accompanied by apprehension and dread. Hard to reassure even if all is OK.


Calcarea carbonica

To be considered when:

  • There is a tendency to obesity, pale, slow, reliable

  • To be secure and supported is key to those needing this remedy, become depressed when lose control and become fearful and anxious

  • Often depression occurs when overcome by physical illness, worry or work.

  • The person may also develop fatigue, anxiety, self-pity, discouragement, and confusion.

  • This remedy is also best for people who sweat easily and who suffer from insomnia and periods of sluggishness

  • A key trait is the desire to stay at home and to be satisfied with this. Comfort is a key requisite

  • Do not like being observed in their confusion and are worried that people think she is insane


Causticum:

To be considered when:

  • Those who feel deep sympathy for others and who become depressed and unhappy due to lack of justice in the world.

  • Depression caused by grief or loss of a loved one.

  • Mental dullness, often loss of memory is apparent

  • Complete paralysis of the mind and the body. Cannot function on any level when severely depressed

  • Frequent events causing grief and sadness are too overwhelming, paralyzing all the emotions, coupled with an ongoing sense of injustice.

  • Dazed, flat, with no emotions.

  • “Hearing bad news” (such as the death of a family member or a diagnosis of incurable disease) can also create aCausticum


Ignatia amara

To be considered when:

  • Where depression is caused by anger, grief, or disappointed love, brooding, weeping evident.

  • People who are mentally and physically exhausted by long, concentrated grief.

  • Desire to be alone

  • One of the best remedy’s for depression caused by betrayal and a subsequent broken heart

  • Often the pain and grief is supressed as they do not want to show weakness in front of others, although deeply hurt and vulnerable

  • Tears or laughter may alternate, for no particular reason. Other symptoms may include abdominal cramps, headaches, or insomnia.

  • Reaction to depression is often observed as deep sighing or sobbing, or sitting, immobilized.

  • Psychosomatic symptoms such as sighing, choking, a stiff neck, and a feeling of something stuck in the throat or a lump (known as globus hystericus.) making swallowing difficult.

  • They often weep for help and attention, they eat the refrigerator empty, and they may even have convulsions.


Kali phosphoricum

To be considered when:

  • Generally suited to conservative, ‘proper’ people who are down to earth. Nervous exhaustion which can make them lose control and become depressed as a result.

  • Often caused by overwork and heavy emotional stress as a result.

  • Depression causes them to withdraw

  • Mental and physical prostration, both anxiety and depression evident

  • Mental symptoms are often accompanied by nervousness, exhaustion, lack of concentration, headaches, insomnia, anaemia, sensitivity to the cold, and indigestion.

  • Extreme nervousness and ‘starting’ at slightest sounds accompanies symptoms


Lachesis muta

To be considered when:  

  • People, (generally women) are self-centred, suspicious, territorial, highly sexed, with a sharp tongue

  • Person has disposition to low spirits and indolence, often women of choleric temperament

  • Ailments from long lasting grief, sorrow, fright vexation

  • Depression is caused by suspicion, jealously, or repressed feelings.

  • It is also prescribed for people who dislike commitment or confinement.

  • The person may be loquacious and want to talk all the time; often prophetic perceptions, jumping from one idea to another.

  • Often menopausal depression, accompanied by hot flushes, burning up feeling, night terrors and angry dreams

  • Depression and irritability comes on before, during and after menopause, and there are strong tendencies to unwarranted suspicion, envy, jealousy, insecurity and resentment

  • Physical symptoms of the menopause such as heavy menstrual periods and uterine pain, ovarian cysts, fibroids can exacerbate the mental symptoms. Congestion, in every sense is a key word, mentally and physical which is why they are better for discharges in every sense. Worse also from suppressed sexual energy.


Natrium carbonicum

 To be considered when:

  • Often indicated for gentle people who have been hurt or disappointed

  • People that try and avoid conflict. They become isolated, withdrawn and listen to sad music.

  • Melancholy is intolerable accompanied by apprehension; wholly occupied by sad thoughts

  • Great debility, inability to think or to perform mental labour which causes a headache

  • Stupefaction, slow comprehension when trying to exert himself

  • Often accompanied by digestive problems and nervous disorders.


It also suits people who feel irritable, indifferent to family members, weary and depressed patients who always prefer to be in seclusion away from people.

Natrum muraticum

To be considered when:

  • People are closed and hypersensitive, defensive and resentful

  • Great vulnerability and easily hurt

  • Depression takes the form of withdrawal and desire for solitude, often crying alone, often to classical music

  • Tearful and lonely depression as a result of suppressing sadness. Often unresolved grief from the past and their childhood can deeply affect their mood and they can feel ignored, deserted, forsaken and abandoned

  • They are worse when people attempt to console

  • Easily offended and never forget what was done to them, dwelling on it and becoming vindictive.

  • Rather than considering suicide, they would dedicate themselves to a worthy cause or crusade, which makes them feel better.

  • Other symptoms include migraines, insomnia, back pain, anxiety, and hopelessness.


Phosphoric acid

To be considered when:

  • Depression is often the result of grief or disappointed love

  • Life has become useless, often they do not want to live

  • Burned out, weak, person who is indifferent to everything and apathetic.

  • Other symptoms include loss of appetite and often feeling overwhelmed from overwork, grief, studying, or heartbreak

  • Depressive episodes often are worse from sleeping.

  • No sparkle, flat, enjoys nothing

  • Memory loss, tries to search for the right word, tired during the day, insomnia at night

  • Physically can experience hair loss and diarrhoea

  • This state is often experienced by teenagers who are homesick and away from home, or in those experiencing long term chronic illness such as chronic fatigue


Pulsatilla

To be considered when:

  • Mostly, a remedy that is prescribed for women and children

  • Depressive conditions relating to fluctuating hormones such as menstruation and menopause, as well as pregnancy, all symptoms exacerbated at these times,

  • People who become tearful and sad when depressed

  • Desire lots of comfort and attention.

  • They are also very moody, jealous, and whiny.

  • Forsaken feelings but is better for consolation

  • The person’s mood will improve with fresh air, crying, and light exercise. the best remedy when depression occurs in conjunction with menopause, menstrual periods, or puberty 


Sepia Officinalis

To be considered when:

  • Person is dutiful, but who can no longer cope with demands put on her

  • Feels unworthy

  • Sinking ‘all gone’ feeling in stomach

  • Depression accompanied by mental stasis, confusion, absent mindedness, dullness, difficult thinking

  • Emotional stasis

  • Indifference to loved ones and family members.

  • They become annoyed when interrupted in their solitude

  • They may feel better after crying and they prefer not to be consoled.

  • Other related symptoms include digestion problems and menstrual issues.

  • Post-partum problems, patient is low, and worn out, physically and mentally, sometimes from a difficult delivery.

  • During menopause and perimenopause and pre menstrually, many symptoms add to the feelings of depression, and could indicate sepia: palpitations, weakness and sudden fainting worse before periods and in a room full of people; weight gain, increased or lack of appetite, nose bleeds, early, irregular and heavy periods with flooding; heavy menstrual periods, total loss of sexual libido. There are many more, but the above are all indicative of changing hormonal states contributing to depressive feelings.

  • Hysterical tendencies during menopause; anxiety and mental imbalance in peri-menopause and during menopause. Anxiety during menopause with flushes of heat.

  • Depression is worse on waking in the morning, but better after getting up.

  • Sulky and lash out at those closest to them

  • May use alcohol or marijuana to escape.


There are numerous other remedies which could possibly be considered, however, the above covers many symptoms experienced by people in this state. As ever, a full case should be taken and the symptoms seen in their totality; consult a homeopath at www.findahomeopath.org

As an adjunct, it may be significant to mention that in 2007, Prince Charles advocated the use of homeopathy for several conditions, depression being one of them (also eczema and irritable bowel syndrome.)  He wrote to the then Health Secretary, Alan Johnson. Prince Charles wrote: "The only reason I persist in my efforts over integrated healthcare - despite waves of invective over the years from parts of the Medical and Scientific Establishments - is because I cannot bear people suffering unnecessarily when a complimentary approach could make a real difference."

He went on to suggest illness should be treated with a "whole person approach" rather than a "reductionist focus on the particular ailment. “I agree with Prince Charles.  Mental and emotional conditions, such as depression are complex, and no two people present in the same way; there is no individualisation, making conventional treatment a long shot, to say the least as the medications are designed to treat everyone. In addition, each medication carries with it a long list of undesirable, debilitating, side effects as has been shown. This is where homeopathy comes into its own. A remedy can cover symptoms on every level, ironically the more unique the symptom, the easier the remedy choice as it is a differentiating factor. Each case of depression is unique, therefore, treatment should be tailored to the individual.  There is a time and a place for conventional treatment through the use of SSRI’s, depending on the severity of the case; the initial integration of the above advice however, could be of great benefit to a patient and start a healing process which could reduce or eliminate dependency on prescription drugs.

I hope this advice has been of help and that you can circulate it amongst anyone you many feel would benefit.  I would love that March, with all its paradoxes proves to be a wonderful start to the spring for you and that some of the polarities discussed here become beautifully balanced.

 

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