Barium muriaticum CaseA woman, aged 35, has recently had a child. Her main complaint is that since then she has been terribly tired.
Another complaint is her headache. She has the sensation as if a wooden plank is going through her head from front to back. When she takes on opinions or judgments from others the headache gets extremely bad. She is inclined to take on other peoples opinions. Her eyes burn and feel as if they are being pushed out. The headache is < bending the head forwards (2), smoking, noise, before and at the start of menses (3). It is > fresh, open air, (2), wind, cold sponge, rubbing the temples and occiput, walking. The headache is not better or worse from eating. Sometimes she feels nausea at the same time.
Past history: Menstruation problems, menses were very irregular: every six to eight weeks. During ovulation tension in the stomach and back pains for a week. Sterility. In 1983 she had an infection in her right ovary.
Cystitis many times.
General characteristics:
Temperature: cold (2), cold feet (3), > fresh air (2), fear of wind.
Time: in the morning she feels sad, at the end of the afternoon she gets irritable.
Desires: cheese (2), peanuts (2), salt, spicy (2).
Aversion: meat (2).
Sleep: restless, tossing around; also because of breast feeding.
Mind: Since the birth of her child she is not at all well. She is very tired and feels unstable. The first three weeks, while she was still in hospital, it was not so bad, but when she came home she felt as if the whole world was upside down. When the baby cries she becomes exasperated. She has the feeling that she cannot take care of her baby,that she constantly has to do more than she is able to. She recognises herself in this baby, and she was not allowed to be a child. Now she feels that she has not got a solid base upon which she can be a good mother. She feels very unsure about herself: 'Who can tell me how to do this well?' Her own mother is no help, either.
She has had a lot of problems with her own mother. The mother felt herself to be rather special, but had not pursued her own career. This made her sulky and she constantly asked for attention by having headaches or being tired. She was very bitter and demanded the support of others, especially her brother.
Her father was a sad, sweet and rather pathetic person. He found a bit of relief in alcohol. He gave his wife big presents and always asked her 'Is something the'matter?', to which she always replied with a sigh: 'No, nothing at all'. Her father was always very careful and did not dare to be strict with his wife. When she was 18, he committed suicide. Nobody ever talked about this afterwards. On the one hand she was very upset, and on the other hand she was rather relieved. It was not until much later that she started to grieve for her father.
So the atmosphere in the house was very depressing. She was the youngest of three children. Her eldest sister often had rows with her father. Her brother cut himself off from it all. She herself tried to prevent quarrels. She felt caught between her two parents. Later on she often looked after her mother too. She used to come home every weekend to take care of her. But the relationship is very tense. A little while ago she dreamt that she was very angry with her mother and shouted at her 'To hell with you!'.
She is often very depressed. She has received treatment for this in the form of therapy. That is also where she met her husband. They have a good marriage, only the sexual part is difficult for her. She feels held back by her own frustrations.
She has a negative image of being a woman. She feels unsure of herself and is easily influenced by others. She also feels guilty when she is ill. Sometimes she wishes that she was dead. The thought of not having the choice over her own death makes her feel bad.
AnalysisThe picture put together by group analysis makes this a clear Bar-m case. She feels weak and useless as a mother, she thinks that she will get into a complete muddle with it. Her relationship with her own mother also fits into this theme. This is a case where repertorising the symptoms would hardly make Bar-m come into the picture.
ReactionAfter Bar-m 1M she did very well. In the course of the following year it was repeated four times. After that the feeling of being an 'incapable mother' disappeared.