Homoeopathic Case-taking (newer methods)

*New approaches to taking cases and analyzing them*

Jan Scholten – Periodic table, Plant Groups (Compositae, Roses)


Rajan Sankaran – Central Delusion, Dreams, Kingdoms, Chemistry, Sensation, Levels



SANKARAN’S DEFINITION OF DISEASE

(Refer ‘Sensation in Homoeopathy pp. 1-60’, ‘Spirit of Homoeopathy’, Substance of Homoeopathy’)

Disease is a state of being expressed both mentally and physically
Mental state = Stress
Stress does not come from external sources but from the way we perceive our external circumstances – when there is a conflict between what we perceive to be real and what is actually real.

There is rarely conflict within ourselves during extreme life situations
- we seem to know what to do and we do it
- as if a single voice tells us what to do
- focus on the situation and act
- where the problem is purely external the mind instinctively knows what and
even how to do it

Stress occurs when external reality differs from internal perceptions
Person experiences conflict and duality
Delusion – false perception of reality

Health - knowledge of how to adapt and respond to the situation
- no trace or after-effects
- freedom to be in the moment

DISEASE AS DELUSION

A situation only becomes a problem when it is associated with the past, confirms a false perception of reality and is fixed in our memory
Each situation then becomes a problem because it is connected to the delusion that rules ones life and the reaction will be inappropriate

The delusion is represented in our dreams, nightmares and fantasies. Delusions are not specific to the individual but shared by the entire human race – mythology, fairytales, art

Delusions are not intellectual and do not stem from emotions
- come from a deeper plane
- not limited to the mind
- sensation that encompasses mind and body
- deeper than human experience – shared with animals, plants and minerals

Pattern or sensation seems to be the voice of the spirit of something within us – a second voice

All symptoms come from one basic disturbance

Patient talks in a language which is both physical and mental – the language is not even human but that of something else

Focus on the words and gestures which are not human – focus on this language to hear the source itself
In a human being it is out of place

We live two lives – primal one is as a human being, as part of a family well knit within society, secondary (diseased one) is something else not human

What is human?

1. playing a role (social interaction)
2. bring up a family
3. contribute to society
4. strive towards social causes
5. self enhancement, develop the ego, pursue spiritual advancement

This other voice confers to us some of our individuality
Borrowed energy to cope with our perception of reality
This energy can be seen via the words and metaphors we use, the sensations we experience, the gestures we use to indicate these inner feelings

Person may choose to make this voice the main voice by choosing a career that suits it
Otherwise this energy is expressed through hobbies and interests





REVISING THE BASIC PRINCIPLES

1. A remedy that covers the mental and general symptoms will more likely cure than a remedy that only covers the particulars.


2. Particular symptoms depend upon the individual susceptibility of the patient, such as in a proving. The generals will be represent the central disturbance and will remain constant.


3. The state lies behind the separate mental symptoms, connecting them. The mental state is a peculiar combination of mental symptoms.


4. Delusions are feelings not entirely based on fact. A delusion is an exaggerated feeling that is fixed and often expressed in terms of images


5. The state is a posture adopted for survival, but remains even when it is no longer needed. Disease is delusion and awareness is cure.


6. A posture is unsuitable and needs to be removed when
a) the original situation does not actually exist
b) the situation is now different
c) the reaction is out of proportion to the situation

7. Disease sets up several conditions for being okay. This restricts our ability to react to situations, and this restriction is a measure of the disease. Health allows unconditional okayness, the freedom to be in the moment and react to what is in front of us.

8. Since Delusion is a sort of limited vision, only by creating awareness can the delusion be broken. The homoeopathic remedy creates awareness by putting the patient in touch with the original situation from which the delusion came.

9. Compensation is the covering up of some parts of our nature by an act of will. Compensation usually happens when a particular quality
a) is not useful in a particular situation
b) is disapproved of by society
c) is harmful to one’s image or life




DEALING WITH COMPENSATION

It is vital to discover which symptoms are uncompensated ones, as only these will point to the true nature of the patient and therefore to the correct remedy. There are several ways to do this.

1. What situation has the patient chosen for himself

2. What are the things he is happy or comfortable with.

3. What are the things, despite knowing they are not good, that he cannot help.

4. What are the things are frowned upon that he cannot help

5. Fears and fantasies

Provings bring out uncompensated symptoms.

Uncompensated symptoms will be seen in times of crisis, childhood, when dealing with those close to him and wherever there is any involuntary behaviour.

DREAMS

Most feelings and actions are uncompensated, therefore dreams are the best way to determine the central state or delusion of the patient.

Do not interpret dreams!

When examining dreams for homoeopathic diagnosis, it is important to gain

1. The exact description of each ingredient
2. The exact feelings
3. The depth of the feelings and degree of desperation
4. Where is the feeling in the dream or its opposite found in the waking life of the patient
5. What does the patient associate with the feeling in the dream spontaneously

Dreams are usually seen where the feelings in waking life are heavily compensated


FURTHER IDEAS

1. It is the Central Disturbance that is to be cured and not the pathology

Central Disturbance represented by the PNEI axis
If a remedy covers the CD it will cure the particulars or pathology even if it is not typical of the remedy.

Symptoms that represent the CD:

a) Mental state
b) General symptoms - factors that aggravate the whole organism
- appetite and thirst
- cravings and aversions
- sleep patterns and dreams
- sweat patterns
- sexual function and impulses
- tendencies for specific conditions like recurrent infections or recurrent problems of any organ systems
- highly peculiar and characteristic symptoms confined to single parts which have no organic base

2. Disease is nothing but the basic delusion of the patient

The CD gives rise to the delusion

3. Potentised medicines do not have any site of action; they are dynamic only

Provings only create a State of being – Mind and General. According to the individual’s susceptibility it will then create symptoms in certain parts of the body.

4. The closer a factor is to the original situation of the remedy the more it will aggravate the state. The further away it is the more it will ameliorate.

5. Mind and Body speak the same language

Symptoms come from a source deeper than either Body or Mind.

It is easier to identify the pattern of the disease with Mental symptoms than with Physical ones. However, they both represent the CD and it is up to the practitioner which he feels comfortable with.

The entire totality of symptoms is actually one symptom, all coming from one single delusion.


6. A remedy may be prescribed in higher potency in the following situations:

a) Mental and general symptoms are clear and intense
b) The CD is high
c) The more exact the match of the remedy to the state of the patient

7. It is important not to prescribe on the ACTUAL situation the patient is in, but the one that the patient THINKS he is in






HOMOEOPATHIC PROCEDURE

In trying to identify the remedy we go from specifics to broad
A few specific attributes are used by homoeopaths to guess at the larger entity
This is why there are often as many suggestions as there are homoeopaths
Would be easier if we had a system to follow
Miasms are one of these systems

Kingdoms is another system

Mineral – problem in structure
Plant – problem is sensitivity
Animal – problem in survival, hierarchy, competitiveness

Salts – problems with relationships
Metals – problem with their role
Each group has a problem with a particular structure or role

Lower the atomic weight the deeper the miasm

Plants have various sensations dependent on their family
Each sensation has four different ways of being expressed:
1. The raw feeling
2. Passive
3. Active
4. Compensation

All sensations are moderated by the miasm.

Symptoms can be divided into sensation and action
A remedy must contain both – urge to murder and feeling will be murdered; stabbing pains and impulse to stab

Each characteristic symptom of a remedy is a combination of the family sensation and the miasmatic feature.

Utility of this is clear – when looking through the repertory only the idea need be found rather than the exact symptom

When a person brings up an issue spontaneously with being asked a leading question in any direction, this is their area of sensitivity. Their sensitivity may go in either direction.
Whenever someone strongly denies something the opposite is always true. If the opposite is not true, then the issue is usually not emphasized at all.

Whatever you perceive in the outside world is actually yourself.
There is no real difference between what the other person is doing and what you are doing. Everyone is a mirror reflecting nothing but our own sensitivity.

Whatever words we use to describe things that impress us immensely are words that reflect the areas we are sensitive to.
When someone describes someone else who affects them strongly, they are describing themselves.

‘You do to yourself what you see others do to you, and you do to others or to things what you like to do to yourself’
‘Victims and aggressors are two sides of the same coin’

Miasm vs. Sensation – how do you tell which is which

What does he feel vs. how does he react to a feeling

NEW APPROACH

1. Elicit the chief complaint exactly – look for a sensation that has a greater connotation

Confirm sensation from modalities
Ask for the opposite of the sensation – often will spontaneously connect this with
Images, situations, fears or other aspects of his totality.

Never use a word the patient does not use – ask to describe the feeling of it
Keep asking the same question in various ways until the patient leads you to the next step
The next step is when the patient gives another sensation that is more precise or more descriptive or deeper.
We need to know what is happening rather than when or why.
If a patient describes an emotional feeling, ask him where in his body he feels it or what are the physical symptoms that occur with it.
Hand gestures will very clearly show the sensation, sometimes better than words.

How it affects his life
Significance in the his life
Why is it happening now
Action taken in response
Expectation from treatment
Manner of description

2. Go to the areas of least compensation.

Usually lead to the significant areas in the first step.
Hobbies, interests, dreams, fears, childhood
Confirm the sensation/action

Upsetting incidents or situations
Other stress situations
Childhood situations
Pregnancy
Job
Relationships
Situations avoided or compensated for
Go with the patient into the stress situation

3. Go to other areas, especially those that are seemingly disconnected

Patient’s nature - own description
- described by relatives and friends
- physician’s observation
- dress/manner/speech
- typical behaviour
- peculiarities
- questionnaires
- emotional problems the patient has with himself
- expectations from treatment
- questions the patient asks regarding treatment
- whether the patient comes accompanied or not
- denial
- mental traits coming up in the description of physical traits


4. Take up the vital sensation that the patient has repeatedly confirmed, along with the depth to which it is experienced, and allow the patient to describe it.