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Vanadium metallicum
Year 2026, Issue 8CaseAuthor: Alex Leupen
Vanadium - trial and error
Case by Alex LeupenIn early 1999, a 28-year-old woman came for a consultation with psychological symptoms. She had graduated in graphic design and had held various jobs since then. What immediately stands out in her account is that things always go wrong at roughly the same point. At first, she functions well; she picks things up quickly and demonstrates that she has mastered her craft. But as soon as an important assignment comes along, something changes. As the work nears completion, she begins to doubt what she has done more and more. She endlessly revises, corrects and starts again, until she loses track of the bigger picture. Eventually, she gets stuck and completely freezes up.When working with others, she sees that colleagues naturally take their place, whilst she moves into the background. She easily lets others take the lead and says of this herself: “I don’t dare to prove myself.” It is not a lack of willingness, but rather a kind of withdrawal reflex that kicks in as soon as things get stressful. As a result, she continues to perform below her potential and her contracts are repeatedly not renewed. She sets high standards for herself; everything must be just right for her, and if it isn’t, it immediately feels like failure. Underneath this perfectionist attitude lies a clear fear of failure, which leads her into the same trap time and time again.When she feels worse mentally, this also manifests physically. She loses weight rapidly and says it sometimes resembles anorexia. During those periods, she also smokes more. These are moments when she has less control over herself and when the tension visibly builds up. Her body seems to mirror her inner state.Her parents’ divorce plays a significant role in her history. It took place two and a half years earlier, following a period of frequent arguments and tension at home. She has not been able to come to terms with it properly. She cannot accept her father’s new girlfriend and has hardly seen him since. Her relationship with her mother is also difficult. Her mother is manic-depressive, which has caused a great deal of turmoil in the family. There was little stability and little room for her, as a child, to really learn to stand on her own two feet. This still seems to be affecting how she navigates the world today.What emerges most clearly from the whole picture is a pattern of starting over again and again, only to get stuck once more. She keeps trying; she doesn’t give up, but she also fails to establish a stable rhythm in her work and life. In terms of the Periodic Table, this fits well with stage 5: the stage of trying, alternating, trial and error. It is a phase in which no fixed form has yet been found and in which movement and repetition alternate without any real consolidation taking place. Jan Scholten has described this picture in his book Homeopathy and the Elements.AnalysisGiven her profession, the Silver Series might seem an obvious choice, due to its themes of creativity and expression.
Yet there is something in the way she gets stuck that does not quite fit with that. It is less about visibility or performing and more about being unable to take her place, unable to stand her ground when it matters. That points more towards the Iron Series, in which themes such as position, functioning and responsibility play a greater role. That is why I choose Vanadium XMK, once a month. Vanadium is in stage 5 of the Iron Series and fits well with the image of searching, trying and not yet being able to consolidate. In Boericke, anorexia is also mentioned in connection with this remedy, which further supports the whole picture.Follow upAfter two months, she returns and reports that things are clearly improving. She feels calmer and notices that she is less likely to panic when something needs to be finished. She has a better overview of her work and is more willing to let it go when it is good enough. She also feels more grounded in her interactions with others. These are not major, spectacular changes, but they are significant shifts that improve her day-to-day functioning. Over the course of the year, she receives the remedy occasionally, depending on how things are going.The course of the following years shows that she gradually develops greater stability. She continues to work in her field and is better able to hold her own. The tendency to get stuck just before completion diminishes and she learns to trust her own work more. In the period that followed, she was given other remedies, including Magnesium muriaticum, Lac maternum and Vernix, which at that time aligned with what was happening in her development.I saw her again last week, together with her little daughter. She has since become a mother. It is striking how different she comes across now. Calmer, more present, less searching. She says she is doing well and that she no longer keeps changing direction as she used to. She sticks more firmly to what she is doing and feels less of an urge to question everything. The old pattern of building something up and then tearing it down has faded into the background.The name Vanadium is derived from Vanadis, another name for Freya, the Scandinavian goddess of beauty. In Wagner’s interpretation, she is described as a caring woman who moves within a world determined by others. That image has something recognisable about how this patient has felt for a long time: moving amongst others, reacting to what is happening, but without really being able to take a stance of her own. Gradually, something has shifted in that regard. She seems less dependent on her surroundings and is sticking more to her own course.What this case illustrates is how someone can remain stuck for a long time in a pattern of trying and relapsing, without it really taking hold. And how there can nevertheless come a moment when that cycle becomes less compelling and greater continuity emerges. Not because everything changes, but because someone is less likely to lose themselves at the moments that really matter.
Case by Alex LeupenIn early 1999, a 28-year-old woman came for a consultation with psychological symptoms. She had graduated in graphic design and had held various jobs since then. What immediately stands out in her account is that things always go wrong at roughly the same point. At first, she functions well; she picks things up quickly and demonstrates that she has mastered her craft. But as soon as an important assignment comes along, something changes. As the work nears completion, she begins to doubt what she has done more and more. She endlessly revises, corrects and starts again, until she loses track of the bigger picture. Eventually, she gets stuck and completely freezes up.When working with others, she sees that colleagues naturally take their place, whilst she moves into the background. She easily lets others take the lead and says of this herself: “I don’t dare to prove myself.” It is not a lack of willingness, but rather a kind of withdrawal reflex that kicks in as soon as things get stressful. As a result, she continues to perform below her potential and her contracts are repeatedly not renewed. She sets high standards for herself; everything must be just right for her, and if it isn’t, it immediately feels like failure. Underneath this perfectionist attitude lies a clear fear of failure, which leads her into the same trap time and time again.When she feels worse mentally, this also manifests physically. She loses weight rapidly and says it sometimes resembles anorexia. During those periods, she also smokes more. These are moments when she has less control over herself and when the tension visibly builds up. Her body seems to mirror her inner state.Her parents’ divorce plays a significant role in her history. It took place two and a half years earlier, following a period of frequent arguments and tension at home. She has not been able to come to terms with it properly. She cannot accept her father’s new girlfriend and has hardly seen him since. Her relationship with her mother is also difficult. Her mother is manic-depressive, which has caused a great deal of turmoil in the family. There was little stability and little room for her, as a child, to really learn to stand on her own two feet. This still seems to be affecting how she navigates the world today.What emerges most clearly from the whole picture is a pattern of starting over again and again, only to get stuck once more. She keeps trying; she doesn’t give up, but she also fails to establish a stable rhythm in her work and life. In terms of the Periodic Table, this fits well with stage 5: the stage of trying, alternating, trial and error. It is a phase in which no fixed form has yet been found and in which movement and repetition alternate without any real consolidation taking place. Jan Scholten has described this picture in his book Homeopathy and the Elements.AnalysisGiven her profession, the Silver Series might seem an obvious choice, due to its themes of creativity and expression.
Yet there is something in the way she gets stuck that does not quite fit with that. It is less about visibility or performing and more about being unable to take her place, unable to stand her ground when it matters. That points more towards the Iron Series, in which themes such as position, functioning and responsibility play a greater role. That is why I choose Vanadium XMK, once a month. Vanadium is in stage 5 of the Iron Series and fits well with the image of searching, trying and not yet being able to consolidate. In Boericke, anorexia is also mentioned in connection with this remedy, which further supports the whole picture.Follow upAfter two months, she returns and reports that things are clearly improving. She feels calmer and notices that she is less likely to panic when something needs to be finished. She has a better overview of her work and is more willing to let it go when it is good enough. She also feels more grounded in her interactions with others. These are not major, spectacular changes, but they are significant shifts that improve her day-to-day functioning. Over the course of the year, she receives the remedy occasionally, depending on how things are going.The course of the following years shows that she gradually develops greater stability. She continues to work in her field and is better able to hold her own. The tendency to get stuck just before completion diminishes and she learns to trust her own work more. In the period that followed, she was given other remedies, including Magnesium muriaticum, Lac maternum and Vernix, which at that time aligned with what was happening in her development.I saw her again last week, together with her little daughter. She has since become a mother. It is striking how different she comes across now. Calmer, more present, less searching. She says she is doing well and that she no longer keeps changing direction as she used to. She sticks more firmly to what she is doing and feels less of an urge to question everything. The old pattern of building something up and then tearing it down has faded into the background.The name Vanadium is derived from Vanadis, another name for Freya, the Scandinavian goddess of beauty. In Wagner’s interpretation, she is described as a caring woman who moves within a world determined by others. That image has something recognisable about how this patient has felt for a long time: moving amongst others, reacting to what is happening, but without really being able to take a stance of her own. Gradually, something has shifted in that regard. She seems less dependent on her surroundings and is sticking more to her own course.What this case illustrates is how someone can remain stuck for a long time in a pattern of trying and relapsing, without it really taking hold. And how there can nevertheless come a moment when that cycle becomes less compelling and greater continuity emerges. Not because everything changes, but because someone is less likely to lose themselves at the moments that really matter.