Author:
Jan Scholten
Book:
Homeopathy and the Elements
Type:
Remedy
Chapter:
2.1.1
2.1.1 Lithium carbonicum
Lithium carbonicum is the only one of the Lithium remedies that most people have at least heard of.
Concepts
Lithium Carbonicum
Changeable Value Meaning
Impulsive Naive Self-worth Worthy
Manic depressive Unstable Shy
Useless Hyper emotional
Weak willed Ordinary
Unthinking Rigid
Easily influenced Worker
Childish Father
God
Analysis
Changing thoughts about self-worth.
Doubts about self-worth.
Feeling useless.
Doing anything to determine self-worth.
Changing values on an impulse.
Unthinking action.
Changeable workers.
A changeable father.
A manic depressive father.
Changing fathers.
Being a changeable father.
Weak willed and shy.
Picture of Lithium carbonicum
Essence: changing feelings of self-worth.
Changing feelings of self-worth
They don’t know what they are worth. One moment they may be most enthusiastic about themselves and the next moment they feel they are useless. Their enthusiasm about the world and themselves can change from one minute to the next. They don’t really know what they are worth, so when a thought enters their mind they can be totally swept away by it because they have nothing to judge it by.
In their imagination they will have seen themselves performing the most fanatics tasks to prove what they are worth, but in practice it turns out not to be a lot more difficult. So when they don’t immediately succeed in making their plans come true, their enthusiasm turns to feelings of failure and despair. They think the fact that they can’t immediately turn their ideas into reality proves how weak and useless they really are.
Feeling useless
Eventually this feeling of being useless will start to predominate. They will feel continuously put down and unappreciated. They are afraid of criticism, afraid to fail and they feel that they are being watched and their performance is below par.
The result is that they feel they don’t deserve a place on this earth anymore. They withdraw because they don’t count anyway.
Changing values
They need to have security and preset values, to know what is what. They have no desire to venture out into unknown territory, it would only bring confusion. And confusion would trigger their feelings of insecurity and instability.
Changing values on an impulse
They may also change their values on an impulse. Suddenly they change their mind about what is good and bad. One moment they support one particular religion or political part, the next moment they sing the praises of a completely different or opposite movement.
Unthinking action
They are very impulsive in their actions. In their work they’ll suddenly do something completely unexpected. An idea enters their head and they immediately think that this is IT. This will prove how brilliant they are! But they don’t think it through and when it appears to be not quite such a good move after all, they’ll collapse into lethargy or feelings of uselessness again.
Changeable worker
Their work suffers from this changeability too. Its either all or nothing. One moment they’ll be intensely hurried and industrious, the next moment they are tired and everything comes to a halt. They start something with much enthusiasm, but after three or four times they are bored and lose interest. At the start they thought they could manage this perfectly, no problems, but when it proves to need a bit more than a couple of hours of work, they immediately feel they have failed.
Weak willed and shy
They are extremely shy. This is made worse by their feeling of weakness and helplessness. They are lonely, indecisive and insecure. They need a strong father figure to guide them through life and advise them what to do. Someone who will tell them what things are worth, what is good and bad. This state can also alternate with a state of intense activity, even manic behaviour.
They feel confused, especially when standing (Zandvoort 1994, page 69), when they have to stand on their own two feet.
A changeable father
This state can also be cause by a very changeable father, a father who brings no stability whatsoever to his family. For instance a father who has extreme mood swings, who approves of everything one minute and who criticises everything the next. Or a father who is changeable in his undertakings, starting something with much enthusiasm and then dropping it just like that. This will give the child no feeling of stability, nothing to hold on to.
One dream that typifies this situation is a dream wherein one half of the parental home was swept away.
A manic depressive father
An extreme variation on this theme would be where the child has a manic depressive father. Al his emotional outburst make the child totally insecure. On top of that this father will often be away from home because of frequent spells in a psychiatric hospital.
Changing fathers
We could also have the situation of many different fathers. The child does not get the chance to develop a steady relationship with one person who can show him the way, who can offer him a suitable set of values to support him in life. Every father will bring his own set of values and the child will feel tossed around these ever changing opinions.
Changeable as a father
When they become a father themselves they may turn out equally changeable. The are not up to the responsibility of being a father, because they don’t know what values to give to their child. They don’t know how to put across what is good and what is bad. So they tend to withdraw as a father and perhaps get involved in another relationship and have children with another woman. Then the whole process repeats itself, because they won’t know how to handle it this time either. And so it goes on.
Expressions
Fear: vague (2!), unknown (!), life, strangers, future, travelling, flying, crowds, streets, failure, disease, operations, death, cancer.
Irritation: overassertive, aggressive, self mutilation, accusing.
Mood: restless, excited, impulsive (!), manic, unstable, hysterical, timid, unsure, helpless, crying < night, discouraged, indecisive, -> support, lonely, listless, meaningless, gloomy, despair, suicidal.
Mental: assocative, confused < standing, symbolic, obsessive, worrying about trifles, slow, fixed ideas, collecting things without coordination, problems orientating, lack of concentration, forgetful, dementia, disassociating, psychosis, manic depressive psychosis (!), crying << alone.
Religious: magic, obsessive.
Causes: neglect, abuse, violence, incest, parents absent, addicted or weak, loss of parents and protectors.
Generals
Type: overweight, big body and small legs, top heavy, unstable.
Locality: right sided.
Weather: feels cold, > heat, < cold, < damp.
Perspiration: feet.
Time: < 7 pm, < night.
Desires: drinks, coffee, tobacco, sweet, ordinary food.
Aversion: exotic, strange recipes.
Food: < fruit, chocolate, alcohol, coffee.
Menses: absent, infrequent.
Sleep: sleepless.
Physical: < light, < standing, < stooping, rest: < exertion, climbing stairs.
< motion (2), > motion.
Complaints
Headache above the right eye.
Headache in occiput.
Vertical hemiopia (!).
Inflammation of ears. Otosclerosis. Deafness > noise (noise loosens the rigidity).
Trembling hands, muscular jerking at night.
Hyperthyroidism, goitre.
Sighing.
Cardiovascular diseases (3).
Nausea, vomiting, stomach pains > eating.
Diarrhoea, < fruit, < chocolate, < night.
Kidney problems (3), stones in kidneys, or urethra (3), uremia, frequent and copious urination.
Problems with bones: weakness, osteoporosis, fractures.
Pain at insertion point of pectoralis major; pain in middle finger; pain in right hip and thigh, radiating to little toe.
Acne, psoriasis, itching, hair loss, increased secretion of sebaceous glands.
DD: Carbon series, stage 1, 10 and 16, Aceticums, Muriaticums, Carlsbad, Titanium, Vanadium.