Schizophrenia Homoeopathic Approach.
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1994 Jan / Feb Vol III No 1.
Dushyant Dhari.
General Topics / Therapeutics.

Schizophrenia accounts for half of all mental cases and a fourth of new admissions to mental hospitals all over the world. So, if Schizophrenics are diagnosed early, then the strength of all the mental hospitals in the world will be reduced to half. Therefore early treatment of Schizophrenia is imperative for preventing as well as halting the progress of patients who would otherwise move towards madness. The greatest difficulty in the treatment of Schizophrenia is in finding the etiology of the disease.

The diagnosis of the disease is not difficult as there are several distinctive features or symptoms of Schizophrenia available. The word Schizophrenia literally, means splitting up of the mind. Yet it should not be translated as a splitting of the personality.

The most important general characteristic is withdrawal from contact with other people. On the basis of several symptoms of Schizophrenia, four categories are widely recognized, namely-

1. Simple Schizophrenia
2. Hebephrenic Schizophrenia
3. Catatonic Schizophrenia
4. Paranoid Schizophrenia

There are three clinical varieties of the above mentioned varieties of Schizophrenia

1. Schizo-affective Schizophrenia a major feature is depression or mania occurring concurrently with Schizophrenia.
2. Periodic Catatonic- This illness is characterized by stupor or excitement along with metabolic disturbance in patients.
3. Late Paraphrenia occurs more frequently in women. The characteristic feature is delusions of persecution and hallucinations of smell, hearing and visual phenomenon along with a constant fear of being rapid and gagged by strangers.

Etiology of Schizophrenia:

Finding the causes of schizophrenic traits in human personality is a very difficult task. The genetic factors, environmental factors, physical constitution, socio-economic status, endocrine and metabolic status, mother-child relationship, physical illness, head injuries, child birth, alcoholism, current stress of modernization and related tensions etc. can all be singularly or multiply be the causes of Schizophrenia.

The latest trend is to look for heterogenity of factors. This matters since most of the cases of Schizophrenia are not distinctly of one particular type. They are complex, overlapping and mixed in nature. In reality, quite a few causes and their mutual interaction is perhaps responsible for the development of Schizophrenia.

Remedies:

There are many medicines in homoeopathy which, on the basis of the cause and the individual symptoms of each patient, can help in Schizophrenia. The remedies commonly used are-

Aurum-met, Carcinosin, Hyoscyamus, Lachesis, Lyssinum, Medorrhinum, Nat-mur, Natrum-sulph, Nitric-ac, Phosphorus.

Staphysagria, Stramonium, Sulphur, Syphillinum, Tuberculinum, Thuja, Verat-alb, and many more. Many remedies are also mentioned in Synthetic Repertory for Schizophrenia Anh, Aur, Halo, Kreos, Levo, Sil, Sulf, Thiop, Ven-m

Schizophrenia Catatonic- Anth, Clorpr, Halo, Kreos, Reser, Thala, Thiop, Thuj.

Schizophrenia, Paranoid- Med, Rauw

A few additional remedies for Schizophrenia are as below

Schizophrenia- Alum, Anac, Bar-m, Hyos, Plb, Psor, Pyrog, Sulph (Cann-i, Lach, Naja, Sep)

Source- Dr. P.I. Tarkas

The Materia Medica of these drugs is as below-

Anhalonium-lewinii:

Morose, sad, sombre. Rupture of contact with outside world. Time seems long; intervals between words and sentences seem inordinately long. Noises or touch is perceived by a coloured vision. Depersonalisation. Does not even know how he is. Objects seem transparent, that of his own body; sees his internal organs. Distrust and resentment; thinks companions are laughing at him; wants to do them violence. Sense of superiority and well being. Sense of depression and inferiority. Marvelous imaginations, exaltation. Auditive hallucinations of bells, extraterrestrial musics. Loquacity may alternate with complete mutism. Cannabis-indica is very closely similar to this and it can be replaced by Anhalonium as both are hallucinogenous and powerful ecstatics.

Chlorpromazine:

Irritability or apathy. Melancholia. Distracted with difficulty to concentrate. Amnesia of short duration. Loss of memory: Holes in the memory. Premonition of bad news. Great anxiety at 10 a.m. Thinks by automatism. Somnolence. Should do some efforts to work. Hallucinations visual: "A head which constantly changes its traits, without changing the carnium." It is like a film.

Haloperidol:

Expressionless face; fixity of the mimetic. Catatonic: attitudes, gestures, blizzard and stereotyped speaking. Depressed. Swinging chewing. Loss of notion of time. Frequently forgets things that should be done daily. Sensation of unreality: "I am away from myself and others", does not know what he does, everything is gummed gradually. Is in a complete mist, confounds everything: beings and facts; things and duration. Great waves of pessimism, of nervousness without any reason. Difficulty to concentrate on any subject of reflection. The movement of the most elementary thinking requires a great effort.

Kresol:

Loquacious mood. Euphoria. Abundant gesticulations. Abundant speaking. Indifference. Distracted, gives impression as if thinking deeply. Irritable, repeats himself very often. Visions of humbugs. Hears sounds of bells. Dreams with nightmares, of sanctimonious persons.

Levomepromazine:

Disinterestedness. Anxiety and internal tension. Premonition of an imminent event, undefinable. Anxiety by anticipation. Feels himself panicked with desire to cry for help. Distress aggravates in a lighted room, in the presence of many persons. Fear of becoming mad, tension of nerves. Tendency to do wrong to someone with headache. Painful dreams, agonizing, of dead near relatives. It closely resembles Phosphorus with the distinguishing features" absence of thirst." On the psychological expression, it holds its position between "fire", Phosphorus and the aggressive Sepia as follows: Phos Nat-mur Levo Chlorpro Sepia.

Psilocybe-caerulescens:

Sensation of distraction, strangeness. Sensation of being in the moon. Indifference to all that are around him. Indifference and want of ethical principles and religious principles. Loses the thread of conversation by distraction. Hears with attention the conversation but realizes what he said late after some minutes. Impression that the time passes very swiftly. Infinite sadness and tendency to weep. Forgets everything, does not feel any preoccupation. Agreeable calmness, never before experienced. Brilliant visual hallucinations. Strange dreams, with an impression of real and livid.

Rauwolfia-serpentins:

Interior restlessness with irritability and apprehensions. Alternate excitation and depression. Phases of augmentation of ability to work and feeling of well being, alternating with phases of fatigue and weakness. Expressionless look, and the power of concentration. Irresolution. Indifference. Erotic dreams.

Reserpine:

Asthenia, specially between 15th and 16th. Nervous depression, Melancholia. Lassitude and dislike for work in the evening. Anxiety and tendency to suicide. Difficulty to work.

Sulfanilamide:

Indolence, apathy, confused condition. Troubles of the association of ideas. Troubles of attention. Troubles interpretation of reliefs. Bivalent psychic state: sometimes gay, joyful, sad and broken down. Fits of delirium, obnubilatin and troubles of character.

Thalamus:

Need for solitude. Pleased to remain immobile in a corner in his room, completely tired. Want of any intellectual initiative, or psychic of will power. Spasmodic laughs and tears, without any real affective content. Indolence.

Thioproperazine:

Feeling of being separated from the exterior world. Tendency to depression, somnolence during the day and insomnia during the night. Desire to remain alone. Confusion and forgets alphabets while taking rapid notes. Alternation with euphoric reactions, of well being, a state of better feeling. Ideas come very easily, writing is easier. sadness, even melancholy. Syndrome of impatience. Need for company and avoids solitude, with anxiety in the evening. Absent minded "as if separated from the ambivalent milieu." Sensation that something grave is going to happen, which does not. Sensation as if something living is on the left shoulder. Excitation in the evening. Sensation as if there is some liquid in the head, with heaviness and aggravated by bending forwards.

Thuja-lobbi:

Anxious melancholia. Weeps and sobs easily. Everything is indifferent to him, except his persona obsession of suicide. Want of will power. Indifference in relation to himself and to others. Characterial difficulties with his encourage. It can be linked with Aurums tendency to suicide and Sepias psychic state of indifference.

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