And The Ambulance Went Back
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1993 Sep / Oct Vol II NO 5.
Dr Meena Mankani.
` Ign
A common question put by every patient during the first consultation is -
"We have heard that homoeopathy is a very slow acting system. So can Homoeopathy
handle serious acute conditions which demand immediate care?" My answer to such a
question is a confident "Yes, definitely".
If the principles are properly applied, homoeopathy has a lot to offer in
most emergencies, (except in surgical or terminal cases). This can appear quite
unbelievable to our allopathic counterparts. Let me relate to one such experience.
It was long back in October 1985, when I was working as an assistant in a
private clinic. The doctor was out of town for a day and I was in charge. Hardly had I
begun, when I heard loud panicky calls from the neighbouring house. "Doctor, doctor,
come fast". So, I rushed out and saw a thin frail and tall girl of around 16, lying
on the floor, with seven anxious people around her. I asked what had happened? What I
gathered from the excited chorus, was that, she was their maid servant who had been struck
by an electric shock while putting on the switch of the washing machine. I being too
inexperienced, nervous and not at all confident of my own capacity, immediately asked them
to call their family physician and he in turn called for an ambulance.
But, in the meantime, before they could arrive, I racked my brains and
gave some first aid. It was then that I made this hurried observation. I found that the
girl was semiconscious. She was turning her head from side to side with tears rolling from
the corners of her eyes. She was taking deep breaths intermingled with paroxysms of loud
sobs. Her body was absolutely cold and sweaty and she was sinking.
A quick thought process went through my mind and I immediately popped a
few pills of Ignatia 10M. Within a few seconds she started
getting warmer, her sighing and weeping got better and she regained consciousness in 5
minutes. Everybody smiled and heaved a sigh of relief. The family physician just stepped
in and checked her up. He looked perplexed and said - "Send the ambulance back. She
is alright".
And I was jubilant at being a good follower of the brilliant Hahnemann.
The girl needed no more doses. After half an hour she vomited and went off to sleep. She
slept for 4-5 hours and woke up alright, though a bit weak.
Now, I would like to discuss step by step the reasons for selecting the
remedy - Ignatia.
Right from the time of Hahnemann, each master homoeopath has stressed the
importance of the most uncommon, peculiar, striking and singular signs and symptoms as the
sole indicator of the curative medicine, no matter what the pathology. It is always the
individual reaction, that a probable exciting cause produces in an organism, that clearly
distinguishes the remedy needed. What struck me most in this case was the loud sobs and
rolling of tears. The gasping for breath is normal in any case of electric shock. But why
should a person in a semiconscious state weep and sob so loudly?
Secondly, we know that - "The unconscious is the deepest inaccessible
level of the psyche, which presents in a dynamic state all the represented impulses and
memories of a person.
Keeping these two points in mind we find that when this girl went in a
semi-conscious state due to a sudden exciting cause what surfaced was some unknown,
unresolved conflict that had remained silent at the sub-conscious of her psyche. It was as
though this unexpected and sudden shock, had triggered off the latent suppressed emotions
hysterically, in the form of involuntary weeping and sobbing.
Therefore, considering this hysterical behavior that was accompanied by
sighing, sobbing and involuntary weeping, I was straightaway led to prescribe Ignatia.
The rubrics that can be taken are -
- Mind, hysteria (KR 52)
- Mind, weeping, involuntary (KR 93)
- Respiratory, sobbing (KR 776)
- Respiration, sighing (KR 775)