Obsessive-Compulsive-Neurosis
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 2000 Mar / Apr VOL II NO 2.
Compiled by:
T K Kasiviswanathan
'Syph / Nat-carb / Aur-met / Nat-m / Sil / Nux-v / Cycl / Puls / Ars-alb / Thuj / Plat / Petr / Calc-carb / Psor / Arg-nit / Kali-bich / Stram / Cupr / Zinc-iod / Iod / Mang-iod / Carc
OCN is a neurotic disorder characterized by the presence of recurrent ideas and fantasies (Obsessions) and repetitive impulses or actions (compulsions) that the patient recognizes as morbid and toward which he feels a strong inner resistance. Anxiety is central but in contrast to the phobias (where the patient is anxious in the face of external dangers of which he perceives himself to be the passive victim), such an anxiety arises in response to internally derived thoughts and urges that the patient apprehends that he may actually carry out despite his wishes to the contrary. It affects men and women equally.
Ideas, words and images, usually disconnected and unrelated to what the individual is doing, force themselves on his attention with a power and insistence that he cannot resist. They are often colored by an aggressive, sexual or scatologic quality that the individual perceives as totally alien to himself as a person. The person is frequently convinced that he has done something harmful or anti-social and experiences considerable concern and anxiety. Though he recognizes such ideas are untrue and nonsensical and may devote considerable time to resist them he may only be successful momentarily but the ideas inevitably return again and the struggle is renewed.
A compulsion has the overwhelming urge to do something aggressive, disgraceful or obscene. Despite recognizing the absurdity he does in fact act on the compulsive urge and indulges in a repetitive behavioral pattern in the form of compulsive acts or rituals.
Homoeopathy has in its armament a number of remedies, which in their mental make up exhibit such neurosis or related phobias. It is astonishing how meticulously the earlier provers of our Homoeopathic remedies recorded the various mental symptoms, which tally with the neurotic symptoms exhibited by patients and hence help us to cure such illnesses. We are therefore, in a position to affect a better cure than what psychiatry can achieve through counseling. Repeated clinical verifications add strength to the provings. Bach flower remedies also can effectively supplement the Homoeopathic remedies in rapid cure of the neurosis. This neurotic behaviour may take many forms from the sublime to ridiculous such as going to great lengths to help others unmindful of one's own needs, thinking he is worthless, has neglected his duty, or committed a crime, obsessive fastidiousness, tendency to cleaning and hunt for pins etc.
This obsessive-compulsive trait creates tension, frustration and perpetuated preoccupation leading to various forms of illnesses; breathing difficulties, gastro-intestinal disorders, skin diseases, sleeplessness and hypertension.
The characteristic mental symptoms of some of the Homoeopathic remedies, which exhibit this neurosis, are briefly indicated below.
Syphilinum: perhaps exhibits best this compulsive neurosis. It is manifested in an obsession with cleanliness and germ-free state. There is a compulsion about checking and re-checking the correctness of former actions such as having locked the doors or switched off applications. The patient harbours a strong fear of infectious diseases and this is accompanied by constant washing of the hands. The patient is irritable to the point of violence on being opposed and impelled by a delusional tendency to feel personally exalted or superior.
Natrum-Carb: This patient is prone to a recurrent mental preoccupation with sad thoughts and a tendency to harbour resentment against specific persons; this attitude creates guilt and shame. It is as if the person could not process and integrate even minor challenges from the environment and thus reacts with exaggerated defense of emotions and recurring mental preoccupation.
Aurum-Met: Such a patient shows an overly conscientious, work oriented attitude and an easily agitated conscience. There is also an obsession with certain ideas that cannot be easily shaken such as the feeling of being deserted by one's best friends or the suicidal impulse to put an end to this worthless life.
Natrum-Mur: This patient turns inward after grief and disappointments and may develop obsessive traits, expressed in the conscientiousness about trifles and quick annoyance at small mishaps. The patient is also subjected to resentment as well as remorse and self-blame.
Silica: He is introspective, shy when engaging in the world and remorseful while easily developing fixed ideas and compulsive traits. Thinks only of pins, fears them, searches and counts them. These patients compulsively try to master this apprehension. Silica usually shows a profound obstinacy and a set way of doing and thinking. They may develop compulsively fixed thoughts or preoccupations that assert on going to sleep and retard falling asleep.
Nux-Vomica: He is highly achievement oriented and develops a conscientious attitude towards trifles while tending to remorse and self-blame. Guilt feeling may grow in reaction to the tendency to faultfinding, criticism and impatient anger toward others.
Cyclamen-Europaeum: The patient is prone to intense feelings of guilt and regret especially in regard to neglected duty.. These patients also are depressed and weepy desiring to be alone; they suffer from apprehension, weak nerves and anxious care for others.
Pulsatilla: Though these patients are mild, gentle and yielding ,they can become intensely overwrought and develop obsessive-compulsive traits, which take the form of pronounced fastidiousness, conscientiousness about trifles, intensified remorse with concomitant disgust and resentment.
Ars-Alb: he is highly motivated to achieve order and perfection in the environment as well as within the body and mind. Mentally the interest is focussed mainly on upholding one's standards of perfection in one's performance and conscience, while urging for purity and health motivates the focus of the body.
Thuja: obsessively pre-occupied with issues of self-esteem, developing fixed ideas and entertaining worries about appearance, performance or health. Deep within, these patients do not feel worthy and hesitate to reveal themselves to others, fearing that they will not be liked. In physicals, they have fixed ideas frequently centering around issues of pregnancy or on sensations of being fragile; patients typically feel as if they are brittle and as if made of glass.
Platina: tends to feel superior to others, even toward loved ones. They are plagued by a high sex drive, by fears of abandonment and irrational anxieties about the safety of their partners or friends; they fear that a fatal accident or other calamity will take away the beloved ones. There is also a frequently experienced impulse to kill the spouse or child with a knife. Heightened fastidiousness is a further manifestation of repressed subconscious.
Petroleum: easily becomes disoriented within and unable to solve or gain an overview over pressing problems; hurriedness and the recurring fear that death is near, further clouds and prevents a calm approach to task completion. The patient has a disturbed body feeling with sensations of being double or of having additional limbs or another person in the bed. The patient loses orientation in well-known streets.
Calcarea-Carb: is work-oriented and conscientious and is afraid that others will note his confusion. Yet they carry on and this constant effort results in a workaholic attitude, in fixed thought patterns, fixed fears such as fear of heights, of spiders, of poverty and of becoming insane and losing mental control.
Psorinum: has a deep seated and unfounded sense of failing, of being unworthy and not measuring up to or be deserving of high achievements or standards. They tend to feel anxious and abandoned, hopelessly ill during disease and persistently remorseful in religious terms. Self-condemnation and suicidal impulses present as deeply ingrained, recurring thought patterns.
Argentum-Nit: is mentally overactive, tending to compulsive checking of unwanted impulses and developing fixed ideas and superstitions. Impulses may even prompt to suicide or homicide. There are phobic reactions in regard to bridges, open spaces, small places and heights. In crossing a bridge or high place the thought that he might kill himself or jump off or what if he should jump off . Sometimes the actual impulse comes.
Kali-Bich: is a reserved, routinist individual with rigid and proper principles. Routines and work structures are upheld conscientiously ; any interference causes irritability and elicits further attempts at withdrawing from interaction with others; While others are shunned, family or mate is sufficient and preferred company.
Stramonium: has an obsessive preoccupation with religious matters accompanied by marked anxiety of conscience.
Cuprum: Detains people who make mistakes. Their desire to control can be quite obsessive. Fastidious in work; everything has to be checked, everything has to be perfect. They consider it their task to maintain order, observe rules and can get very angry if other people step out of line or do not observe rules. Mental rigidity. Another way of maintaining order is through ritual. Ritual is a key word for Cuprum. Their rigid desire to follow the rules can lead to ritualistic behaviour, a seemingly meaningless set of actions that are constantly repeated in the same order. This remedy could be very useful for people who are frequently involved in rituals, people such as priests or judges. There is often a sort of superstitious element too, touch wood, cross your fingers etc..
Zincum-Iodatum: Obsessive repetition. They also feel that people are always checking on them. Parents, teachers or bosses are imposing all sorts of rules and are constantly keeping an eye on them. But they also have a tendency to check their own work all the time, reading and rereading their homework, learning and relearning their lessons. If they make a mistake, if they don't do their utmost to get good results they will be told to leave, there will be no place for them in this world. Only by constant effort and hard work will they have the right to exist. Later on they will put the pressure on themselves, taking over the role of their parents or teachers. They keep a constant check on themselves in order to safeguard their position. They keep copying the old ways of working to make sure they live up to the required standards. But they tend to lose sight of the essence and what it is all about. They can even end up working against themselves.
Iodatum: The fear of forgetting something also makes them quite obsessive. They have to remember, so they are constantly repeating to themselves: musn't forget to do this, musn't forget to do that. This obsessive way of thinking may filter through to their activities: must check whether I have locked the door, and again and again. These thoughts control their mind to such an extent that they are unable to develop any other interests.
Manganum-Iodatum: Obsessive in their desire to help There is something obsessive about the sort of help they offer. They feel they have to be there for everybody, family, friends, even complete strangers. As if they can't refuse without risking being left stranded on their own in the big wide world. It is as if their existence depends on their willingness to work and to help.
Carcinosin : Fastidious in his work; Desire to come for appointment on time. Fears to make mistakes. Tendency to adapt too much to the requirements of others to get their approval. Excessive sense of duty and hence workaholic. Feeling guilty while taking rest without having finished all the work.; even when sitting he has the feeling that he must do something like reading, knitting etc. Inability to refuse anything and always wants to please everybody; feeling guilty when refusing anything, but unaware of his own needs and permits others to overstep his own boundaries.
Sources:
- Kent's lectures on Materia Medica.
- Conelia Richardson-Boedler- Applying homoeopathy & Bach Flower therapy to Psychosomatic Illness, ( p245-277)
- Dr Pathak's Materia Medica.
- Dr Nash's Leaders.
- Tinus Smits- Cuprum-metallicaum-Homoeopathic Links 2/92.
- Tinus Smits-Carcinocinum HL 3/98.
- Jan Scholten; Elements& Homoeopathy.
- Merck Manual. 15th Edn- p 1505-06.
