Case by Maarten van der Meer
An eight-year-old girl has a pollen allergy, with the following symptoms: itchy eyes, stuffy nose and shortness of breath, and eczema under the eyes and below the nose. The medication is hormone creme on which the skin worsens, and a puffer aerosol. She has a dry cough in the morning; the allergy also occurs with cats and blooming flowers. The symptoms have been going on for several years, starting in late March and lasting into the summer. During the period around a move to a new house, she had for a time frequent abdominal pain which lasted all day. Regularly she has a rash on the labia which itches and burns. She is shy with talking and dares to ask no more than a few questions, she whispers in new situations while at home she puts on a big voice. She seems competitive and makes a game out of everything, but what matters, according to the parents, is to “show up well”. As soon as she thinks she can't do something she won't do it nor tying it, because failure is 'not showing up well'. She is eager to learn and very independent. In her play, she has a lot of fantasy and she even has fantasy friends with whom she talks, it is remarkable that when she sees a movie or a play she can say “That is acted, that is a role”. Later she wants to perform, and become an actress or a dancer. She eats well and loves smoked meat. During games with friends, she can be very bossy. Except for the allergy, she is never sick. Mother calls her an emotional person, excitement like a birthday or Santa Nicholas gives her tummy aches, she is then sad, quiet, and pitiful. Regularly she has scary dreams but refuses to tell them, only after the medicine has worked well, she can tell about the dreams (topics such as witches, crocodiles, fleeing, no protection from mommy and daddy, the headless Easter Bunny who puts his head down as an egg, dolls, and death).
AnalysisThe inward striking of emotions, whispering, sensitivity, and complaints of mucous membranes in gentle people are indications of the
Malvales. The perceptibly strong feeling bond and good feeling contact with her mother, the combination of shyness and bossiness, the theme that the head is separate from the body, the lung complaints, and abdominal pain all fit
Daphne indica. The sensitivity to other people in terms of how they feel or how they think I saw earlier in situations where
Malvales work well.
Prescription:
Daphne indica MK.
Follow upfrom the day after taking the remedy there is no more abdominal pain, the rash disappeared within a few days, the stuffiness is no longer noticeable and the medications have not been used. She is less snotty but still snores. In between there has been one day of school elevation with a little headache. During the transition to a new class and party week she has not been bothered, she seems less vulnerable. After a year, everything is still fine.
Discussion A sensitivity to (or the theme of) communication was already apparent in
Malvales casuistry. Used in the
Plant theory, later it turns out to be a usable as a
Malvidae mark). The mother talks a lot about her child's emotional world, saying she understands well what her child is thinking and feeling. During the consultation, it is also easy to see how the two understand and respond to each other without words. The mother seems to know the child's feelings immediately, without her mind intervening. This goes so naturally that they themselves do not notice it, so it seems to be the normal course of events, they pick up a lot of signals from each other. In addition, they also answer half or unspoken questions, the conversation is unusually efficient. It seems that when they don't pay special attention to it, the communication goes just the same way, a bit in the way people with severe dyslexia can communicate. Same as in other
Malvales casuistry, it is not the language or words that seem most important, but the nonverbal: communicating is more touching, observing, and checking for subtle feedback. With these people, this is not a necessity due to impairment as with dyslexia, but a natural efficiency as an addition to language, or it is used as a necessary precaution, to scan the environment (active) or “feel off”(passive). People who respond well to a drug from the
Malvales group, I experience as being present pleasantly and constantly, without crossing boundaries and without being out of sorts or shutting down when something unpleasant happens. Tension builds up, and a characteristic statement mentioned is “They can go very far with me, usually the contained anger subsides again”. But if at some point the measure is full, they don't rest until the bile is spewed. In situations where they can't, they have to shut down. They know well when there is no chance of winning a battle, can step back in time; they seem to stay well within reality. Shutting off does not imply any more contact with the outside world. The ability to sense what is happening around them and how the flag is flying remains and is used satisfactorily. There is also the possibility to compensate in a variety of ways, with compassion, decisiveness, aggression, or charm, for example. Decompensation is also possible, but the healthier the person, the greater the margin before the bomb bursts, the vegetativum can then absorb a lot, there is a lot of stretch in it. If a person forces himself too much into compensatory behavior, then at some point the tension can be channeled directly into mental burnout (
Dirca palustris), or over strain occurs quite suddenly, possibly with delirium (Kola nitida, Chocolate).