Remedy code: 3-655.36.14.
The following description is very characteristic of Abroma and contains many Malvaceae elements. Prescriptions from this plant family are suitable for people who are very strong non-verbally. Recognizing this family is often a matter of ‘reading behavior and interaction’, and the ability to 'feel' is case of the Malvaceae and also the
Malvales. An eight-year-old girl has been undergoing classical homeopathic treatment for four years, but her parents are dissatisfied. The complaints in question are: angry outbursts and an allergy to dust mites, hazelnuts, and sun allergy. Hazelnuts cause shortness of breath, rashes, and eczema, and the sun can cause total edema. Until she was 18 months old, she had projectile vomiting and spitting up bile after feeding. So far, colleagues have prescribed remedies based on the symptoms, using the usual repertories, but the angry outbursts continue. She is “always angry,” says “no” to everything, constantly “rebels,” and gets very angry very quickly when something doesn't go her way. She was a late talker, has performance anxiety at school, and there is a history of dyslexia in the family. She wants to win everything, in games and in the various training sessions she receives as therapy. She comes across as powerful but does not dare to show herself during the consultation. She avoids direct eye contact but continues to peek from the corner of her field of vision, especially to see what kind of attention and how much attention she gets, which she provokes with her behavior. When asked a direct question, she can roll her eyes upward. In between, at moments when she does not respond to the outside world, she looks intently and focuses her attention on the space about half a meter diagonally above her, and the space inside her head. I don't see her lost in thought or diving into fantasy; it seems to me that she continues to observe the outside world or her existing ideas or imagination. She turns in her chair, slumped, almost writhing, and a moment later she does the same thing on her mother's lap. She clings to her, not hiding but focusing entirely on her mother. It is striking that at the same time, she remains very clearly attentive to whether and how I react. It is not the hiding that you see in small children, there is no fear, no embarrassment, she continues to sense very subtly where her mother's and my attention is going, she demands it very forcefully, and at the same time, she does not know what to do with it. She is constantly busy and often looks angry. She has absolutely no patience and wants to leave as soon as possible when she is somewhere else. When given direct attention during the consultation, she starts acting, playing with the bag, putting her head in it, kicking hard with her foot, doing this deliberately or as a seemingly primary reflex, swinging her arm. She hits her mother, gives a little tap to emphasize her words, or talks in a made-up playful voice, something that also happens at school. The sometimes hard-hitting is a recent development; before she used to throw herself on the floor screaming. Letting her rage out is the most efficient approach, after which you can talk to her about it. She is very strong non-verbally. She is also regularly very openly defiant, especially with her powerful body language, as a kind of compensation for her 'powerless' mind, her mental absence, and her writhing without a clear direction. The mother allows a lot, occasionally reacting very directly, 'on top of it', without getting emotional. The message then comes across very clearly to the child; understanding and contact are good, which makes the behavior all the more remarkable. She is referred to as a “grumpy kid,” a “bully,” and at school as a “problem child” who is eligible for special education. This statement prompted the parents to make an appointment. She is the youngest child, always seeks protection from her brothers, and looks up to them. About the pregnancy, the mother says that she had to “fight hard” against the midwife and the hospital, they did “everything wrong,” she was very irritated and got very angry about it. This is her third child and pregnancy. The mother also says that she gives up quickly, runs away, and then gets angry, no longer wanting to try. At school, this causes learning and behavioral problems. As a demonstration, she walks away during the conversation and tries to escape to the hallway, visibly just controlled enough to show that she is acting as if she is peeking out from under her mask. She is not overwhelmed by emotion, by anger, but uses it as a conscious tool to put up her defenses, for self-affirmation, and to take up space, looking at it as “this is mine.”
AnalysisAt the ages of 4 and 7, she was given Cina, Chamomilla,
Antimonium tartaricum, Sulpher, Lycopodium,
Barium carbonicum, Nux vomica, Hyosciamus, Nitricum acidum, Cenchris, Pulsatilla, Coffea, and Lachesis, respectively. Arguments for all medications can be found in the earlier anamnesis, symptoms, or interpretations of behavior. The only improvement was that sleeping very poorly during the night changed to falling asleep late at night. Observation: remarkable was the way of moving, the turning, the 'pretended' meanness, the restlessness and evasiveness, the direct and impulsive reactions with the body and expression of emotions, and through all this, the constant contact. This was recognizable from previous Abroma cases. In addition, there were general
Malvales symptoms, which, although not classified in the usual repertories, are very recognizable and identifiable: the strong nonverbal ability, both expressive to make intentions clear and to communicate directly, as well as receptive, which could be seen in her way of responding to signals, facial expressions, and emotional expressions. The fluid contact with one of the parents, the 'talking and understanding without words'. The 'understanding' in particular will contribute to the fact that there was virtually no emotion in the parents' voices and expressions, even when they were very clear or corrective. They know why the child is behaving this way, and even before they speak, become emotional, or express their feelings, the child has already picked up the message. To the observer, however, it seems as if he is watching a rehearsed conversation, or as if it is a language he does not understand. I saw the way of maintaining eye contact in all the other Abroma cases, but the perceptible and almost 'tangible' feeling of remaining aware of one's surroundings is characteristic of the
Malvales case I saw. The use of the voice, or just not speaking, and the need for protection, are mentioned in
Plants 8 (Scholten 2005) as a characteristic of
Malvales. Except through anger, the opinion is not clearly expressed or made known; the voice and behavior beat around the bush, constantly whining and using childish behavior to tell the story and push through what they want. Clarke's Materia Medica lists the following mind symptoms: irritability, contradiction aggravates, quarrels, easily excited and angered. The plant with its strong thorns and the name Devil's Cotton is almost symbolic of the behavior in this case. Given the experience with the Abroma case, a classification at stage 16 seems appropriate; keywords such as disgust, fantasy, begging, rejection, loss, and laziness occur actively or passively. Rejecting people, feeling rejected and being rejected because of 'repulsive' behavior, as if they have nothing to lose, and low self-esteem, typical of
Stage 16 and recognizable in Abroma case studies. After the development of
Qjure, the above is also an argument for placing the plant and the
Byttneriaceae family in
Phase 6.
Prescription:
Abroma augusta MK.
Follow-upAfter five weeks, the parents say: “She is a different child.” My first impressions are “gentle” and “enthusiastic.” She is now calm in her reactions, very accommodating, and no longer runs away during a difficult conversation. She has been very attached to her mother lately, the angry outbursts and hitting are much less frequent, and it is easy to 'put the brakes on'. Everything is less intense. The teacher, who was not aware of the homeopathic treatment, has noticed that she is much easier and calmer, less panicky when she gets attention or when her name is mentioned. Special care is given to things she is very afraid of. Her parents still describe her as 'unpredictable' (the 'swings' in her behavior, and her choices). All her life she has been very afraid of animals, and dogs, but she also finds worms so scary and disgusting that they make her gag. She wants to choose her clothes and is very independent in this. When talking and answering, she uses a difficult, faltering toddler voice with me, coming up with all kinds of details that have little to do with the question, in a whiny and attention-seeking tone. If she doesn't like talking about the problems at school, she pushes her face into her mother's neck and chants “Stop, stop,” then turns her back to me. This is still stubborn, antisocial behavior, but it's better than screaming and hitting, like the month before. Squeaky, complaining, whining, and “nobody wants to help me,” are the words she uses to express herself. For me, it's a superficial layer of grumbling, underneath which I see relaxation and peace. I write down: the 'peace of the sleeping beauty'. The earlier Abroma layer of 'no', running away, not wanting to confront, laziness, and doing her own thing is no longer present. The clownishness is still there, such as continuing to read a book aloud while everything is upside down, knowing that she is drawing the audience to her, to have the opportunity to take over the scenario of that moment herself. It's all about ‘me’. After three months, the calm has increased, and the behavior has remained stable and improved, “the hysteria is gone,” the hitting is less, the twisting and ‘playing’ is still there, but less intrusive and annoying, the strange voice is less. However, you still see her reactions when we talk about her: she hears it, she understands it, and in the meantime, she thinks about how she can outsmart you (with that extra information). She still takes a long time to fall asleep, she is still awake for two hours, and can only fall asleep in her parents' bed. Because so much else has improved, and it could be part of her playing and manipulating her parents, or it could be a matter of getting used to it, I don't prescribe anything for that, but I do recommend using melatonin for a week. This works very well and she sleeps well for months afterwards. Her behavior at school is fine. Six months later, the only concern from the school is her learning pace. She is still a whirlwind, impatient, and can whine in a way that is not appropriate for her age. She still gets angry when a game doesn't work out and then blames everyone else. Her sleep is restless: she tosses and turns, laughs, sleepwalks, or falls out of bed. Her posture is straighter, more powerful, her gaze no longer evasive, more like “you can't touch me.” A year later, the tantrums return, and she responds very well to Theobroma. Similarities in previous Abroma case studies: playing the ‘clown,’ dancing, talking in a strange voice (Malvaceae characteristic), wanting to win, restlessness, not making contact, development can be fast or slow, learning to talk quickly or late, swimmer's eczema, tidying up a lot, cuddling a lot to the point of clinging to parents or avoiding contact, grinding teeth, powerful gaze, manipulating and controlling the environment, remaining emotionally distant but continuing to observe closely.