Opium: My Understanding and a Case
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 2000 July / Aug VOL II NO 4.
Dr Vishpala Parthasarathy
'Op

Then he went to Saudi. That is another story.
After he returned from there, it was the end of the line for him, work- wise; because he became a man of leisure and yarns. Every month he was on a new hype - a project to run emergency hospital on wheels, Helicopter emergency services, etc, 2 yrs later when I met him again, the scheme was a little more mundane, helping his daughter set up an import business in leather. He was going to USA to finalize the details. When I met him 15 days later he was back from his trip with all details in place. I suspect he never made the trip!!

Anyway, after my Book Release, I got on with my daily routine, but he would park himself in my clinic or my house everyday. As you know, I am a workaholic and genuinely had no time. So finally the only way I could deal with him, was to let him wait in the antechamber. The waits were eternal and I figured that such hints would penetrate the thickest of skulls. It took a full 2 months of these tactics to show 50% results and the remaining 50% took a rude talking to, before he vanished 100%. Before vanishing, he tried the oldest trick in the book; he came to me as a patient! I anyway had been looking for an opportunity to give him Opium, so I happily took his case, Free of course, to which his comment was "I would have offered to pay you, but will not, since I know you will never take it" !!

On 29-9-95 he got a backache after a jerk in the auto; worse first motion or bending to remove shoes. While taking history, since I have seen him take too much time to get out of car, I asked him how his knees were, and he said absolutely fine! He could jog everyday from Juhu and back.

"Lt shoulder pains sometimes, but goes away if I concentrate my mind for 1 min". Once earlier he had fractured his lt. arm, slipped on moss, it was hanging in 2 parts and he let it be set without Anaesthesia. This was in 1978, but he could conjure up the picture as if it was yesterday.

Mind Symptoms:
I will put down in a nutshell what all he told me "for me, my head rules, I am never egoistic, never jealous, I hate hypocrisy. I feel sorry for others when I am angry also. That must be a lacuna in me. I have no superiority or inferiority complex, I am very frank, very principled, can always judge by being very neutral. I can understand a person almost 90% in just one meeting, and it rarely turns out to be wrong. I hate cheating in any form and then I get very angry and go to any lengths even to kill. I can just blow up money. (This at least was true!). I love nature. (Misfit is the word in this whole monologue) Love enjoyment, outing, drink and hotels.

On questioning he said: "I give my wife daily Rs 20 for expenses of house and children and Rs 40 for myself."

About Wife: " She is simple, why divorce her, why break up? Actually her father was my friend and he insisted on giving her hand to me. He was a personal friend of Rajiv (Gandhi that is) and that remained in spite of all the ups and downs. When I was in Saudi, I went to Mecca. God arranged it. I had many discussions with the religious heads there. In 1984-85, the bosses in Saudi offered me Rs.50 lakhs / mth but I refused and returned back to India. (They all actually cried". (The best part is that all this, he believes, really happened. The delusion in Opium is so strong that they make up and actually live in this make-belief world. His memory is so good. He talks of everything as if it happened yesterday. And you can see the inconsistency in his stories!)

About Childhood: "Fear never! Not even of snakes" (though when he came to my house he was scared of my dogs!) Weeps very easily. Very sensitive to others. Sleep very good; never dreams.

"At 1 yr I had fear of going to the 1st floor. Went whistling and quickly put on the light, conquered that fear. I was born a confident child. Always go deep to understand things better. Like all realized souls".

Some Generals: Wt: 70 kg Perspiration3, running down, appetite3, loves pan, tobacco.
Appetite Voracious. Loved food, sweets, puddings, pickles, in Saudi- only badam, pista, kaju. Tobacco 25-30g/d; beer, whiskey. Thirst 10-12 glasses water per day.

Rubrics:

Most of the rubrics are covered by opium, and even when some are not the general gist is certainly covered.

Follow Up:
29-9-95 Backache very severe could barely move. I gave him a dose of Opium 1M.
7-10-95 65-70% better
10.10.95 No pain. Now I wanted to try to see if his tobacco consumption could be reduced. Opium 10M - 1dose
10-11-95 I felt there was decrease (I asked his panwala about his daily consumption!) but he did not report that. After that no medication was given, as there was no opportunity. I then lost touch with him for 4 yrs, He surfaced last yr, but I could see he was much the same. He was carrying on in his usual style, this time to go abroad to set up his daughters' leather line!

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