Case by Maarten van der Meer
A six-year-old girl has warts. And lots of scary dreams, it is emphatically added by her mother in a tone that suggests an underlying problem known to the mother but unsolvable. The child is cautious, in moving, looking, and talking. She stays still, although her mother asks her a lot, and lets her talk, it seems with an exaggerated respect. Later in the conversation, it seems more so because she normally tells little, and is “put” to talk this way. She begins to look at you, and then deflects her head or attention, continues to feel uncomfortable, only when attention is no longer focused on her, both in terms of talking, looking, and thinking, does she feel free and move harmoniously. The warts are corned, they started on the left shoulder tip, and have now expanded to the armpit and elbow pit, abdomen, and leg. They are red and inflamed, with many small ones emerging. There is some eczema around the warts, also in the hollows of the knees, and a little on the shin. It started six months ago, after the summer since swimming lessons, now for a few months it has been so severe, it doesn't seem to stop. Resistance is good now. For years she had a continuous nose cold, fluid behind the eardrum. Tubes were put in twice, and the nasal tonsils were removed. In the last year, she has not been sick anymore.
Dreams: especially at Grandma's she has scary dreams, ‘there are very scary cats there, they scare me. In the dream, grandpa and grandma and mom are there too’. At mother's house, it is often about monsters, with levels (as in a computer game), a wolf, or dragons. Mother asks her out gently, with a few words, heavily emphasized with her whole body, indicating that something is expected and that she has talked about it before. The child seems to know and absorb well what the mother means. She begins the answer with a sentence, or one with a few words, then hooks off by crawling into her little world, closing in a silent pose. Sleeping has been a problem since childhood, from her first year she did not want to sleep during the day, she could never fall asleep and until the age of four, she did not sleep through the night. At home she talks a lot about dreams, she has a dream catcher and many protective stuffed animals. This shows that it is named before an important subject, and that focused attention goes to her. During this telling, the mother watches figuratively from a great distance, clearly detaching herself from it, detached from a mother- child symbiosis that the girl seems to be counting on. Half the week she has scary dreams, sleeps restlessly, and moves around a lot. She is then scared and wants to be in bed with her mom, as close to her as possible. This is a problem for the mother, who sleeps badly herself and is therefore very tired, so there is extra pressure on the child and the problem. Sometimes she cries in sleep, sometimes she comes out on her own, or wakes up in a panic. 'The fear of the dreams is there very strongly'. Falling asleep is somewhat better, but it takes a very long time, staying with it or an audio book helps. Only now it is mentioned through inquiries that the parents have been divorced for two years, and it dawns on her that mother was very insistent that she tell her last name herself at the beginning of the consultation; in a way, she distanced herself very much and put the child alone. Mother has been at home for a year now with burnout (she recovered after Angustera). According to the mother, the child is very inwardly directed and very headstrong, closed: she cannot say what she feels. She has her image, her world, she closes herself off. It is as if she has no desire to engage in much contact. She is inquisitive and focused. She is the second child. They used to have a cat, now she has a cuddly cat. Other than that, things are going well. The pregnancy: in the beginning mother was very tired, and she doesn't remember any further. The delivery went very well, fast, fine. The child was busy, and violent, from the age of four she calmed down and went to sleep (this was the time the father left, possibly there was tension or the child felt tension). She has a powerful will and can try anything. Is also not afraid of anything else. Typical for her is that she is so different in making contact, she is focused on her little world. Greeting or saying ‘thank you’ does not occur to her. She can be very concentrated on things, her surroundings no longer exist. She interacts with other children the same way, perhaps she is not so skilled at it. Why she does not go to play with the other children she explains herself: “In a while, it goes wrong, it always goes wrong”. The education system calls her “almost autistic,” which is how she has taught herself to read, she bites her tongue at that. She can be very happy, says Mother, to which she interjects, “No, I'm not happy,” she can't or won't put things into words. At school, she is doing well, but she hates it when she has to do something. With a friend, she has a lot of imagination, but in the doll corner, she gets bored. She is stubborn, if she doesn't want something she has to: forget it. She can be very coercive and persistent. If you give an order, she stiffens a little. Mother also tends to have her way, she can also get angry and throw something. The child has never eaten well.
Analysisthere are several possibilities for analysis, through the repertory using the section 'warts', or a search in Composites (a wart is a virus). This did not give any recognition. Used was the rubric in the repertory 'dream cats', here
Daphne indica stood out, and the image of the Malvaceae fits her behavior, was recognized. Going through a rubric gives often a 'cat-call', you recognize the characteristics of the Plant
Family or you are encouraged to check the group characteristics of the possibilities listed if they apply. Fits with the image of previous
Daphne indica indications: hesitating, starting contact briefly and then quickly breaking off, turning in on herself, sensitivity to attention and thoughts, the need for contact with mother, mother's tendency to hold that off and break it off (to have a little more air herself), 'sensing the environment', the ease with which she can shut off and the need to shut herself off: a multitude of
Malvales characteristics. The manner of making contact, avoiding, postponing, fits
Stage 5.
Prescription:
Daphne indica MK.
Follow upShe immediately sleeps better, there are no more scary dreams from day one, and the warts expand in the first month. The warts itch and she scratches them. Her comment is “I don't know. She is no longer afraid of going to bed, she falls asleep right away, sleeps peacefully, can sleep out now, gets up better, and is no longer cranky. She gets a little rebellious, like she used to be as toddler, and has a week of lots of snot bubbles. She now sits on her mother's lap, hanging, sitting upside down, as if connected with elastic (this has been seen more often with Abroma). After a month the warts diminish, and they no longer itch. People get to know her only after some time, she does not make contact easily. She continues to eat poorly.