Anacardium Orientale - I can't help but be the devil
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 2001 Jul / Aug VOL III NO 4.
Compiled by:
T K Kasiviswanathan
'Anac

Anacardium has features in common with its botanical relative- the Rhus species, especially in the action on skin, muscles and joints, but it’s distinctive features are:

1. The characteristic sensation of a pressing or penetrating pain as from a plug; this may occur in any locality- in neuralgias, ear affections, even piles, but when present it is Anacardium and nothing else. -Dr Clarke.
2. Has won a reputation in "examination funk" and allied conditions- ie brain fag.
3. In this article we will focus on the mental aberrations - Its sense of duality and unreality; its perversions, blasphemous and cruel; its illusions, delusions and fears.

It is the most violent, angry and cruel remedy in our HMM. Vithoulkas says it stems from basic anxiety, insecurity and lack of self-confidence. Their assertion often takes the form of cruelty. They might have been victims of physical or sexual abuse and cruelty emerges when emotions get blanked out; because when they cannot feel anymore, they can do harm almost with joy. They start believing that everybody is their enemy. They exhibit rage and violent behaviour.

In their book "Treating Type a Behaviour and Your Heart", a sequel to their earlier book "Type A behaviour and your heart", Dr Friedman and Diane Ulmen[ ch sp? observed that American President Lyndon Jhonson confessed that he did not get unconditional love from his mother. They found that many with Type A behaviour had not received love and affection from parents. This led to insecurity, lack of confidence and short fused hyper aggressiveness with free floating hostility towards others.

Even more disturbing is the emergence of cruel and violent behaviour in young children. In one of her TV shows, Oprah Wimphrey showed cases of young children who exhibited uncontrolled rage and destructive behaviour. One case a boy just 8 y, in the presence of his father and sister shot dead his mother at the breakfast table because his mother criticized him. A year earlier he had tried to strangle his mother because she took away his Sony Play Station.

Case 1: Judyth and Robert Ullman
Christopher, aged 13, was brought by his mother for uncontrolled rage and other undesirable behavioral problems. Mother said-
"He is 13 now and lacks self-esteem. Making friends is beyond his reach. His dad and I are divorced and it became more difficult for him when we moved to another city. Recently, his behaviour has become bad, the violence unpredictable. I do not feel safe to leave him with his younger siblings for fear of what he might do to them. He resents change and alteration of plans. He is very rude. He feels uncomfortable in his own skin. He scratches his head and bites fingernails and toe nails."
"What concerns me is his fascination with anything violent. Weapons, guns etc. Lies and steals for the pleasure of it."

"Christopher is a bundle of contradictions. (THE clue to the remedy)- a saint one minute and a devil the next! Will slap or push his sister or be incredibly insulting. One side- sweet and empathetic; loves to be held and smothers you with hugs and kisses. The other part, which yells, "Don't talk to me. Don௟t touch me" - downright aggressive and mean. He often threatens to kill me with a gun. When he is really bad he swears at his sister, pushes her down and break her things. When he was only 4, he pushed his younger brother down the stairs. He torments people- switches off the television when his sister is watching her favorite programme, rips her toys apart."

(Now the other clue) "Christopher once told me that he had a dark side: embroiled in a constant struggle between dark and light. There was a voice inside him telling him to do bad things. He desperately wants friends but he scares them away. Often he goes out of his way to please them. Though bright, for a test he may just sit there and do nothing."

"My pregnancy with Christopher was ideal. I had a home birth but he got stuck. My cervix was completely dilated except for one tiny area. He came out after I pushed for 45 minutes. He had a cone head. For some reason he never learned to nurse! At school he was disrespectful and resented when corrected."

When the doctors questioned him he said "this is stupid" but later on answered: He said that the thing hardest for him is when others do not part with the things he liked. About the conflict inside him he said "there is a good side that tells me to do one thing and a bad side that tells me not to."

The remedy was clearly Anacordium-orientale.

The sense of duality, with one egging him on to commit acts of violence and the other restraining him but the devilish part was having the upper hand.

The Rubrics are: Delusion. Devil sees; devil speaking in one ear angel in the other; prompting to murder or acts of benevolence; double of being; delusion, under superhuman control, he is; Duality, sense of; moral feeling want of; two wills, feels as if he had.

Rage, fury (KR 70); violent, vehement etc (KR 91), Blasphemy, cursing, Confusion of mind, identity, duality sense of; contradict disposition to, contradiction intolerant of, cruelty, inhumanity, cursing, swearing, rage in; insanity, madness; malicious, spiteful, vindictive, offended easily, takes everything in bad part; rudeness; unfeeling, hard harted; deeds of violence, rage leading to.

Often, Anacardium children direct their vehemence and rage toward their parents. It may be because parents are either too permissive, or too busy and neglect their children do not spend enough time with them. Often, lack of parental love leads to low self-esteem. The parents forget that the world is too big for the children to navigate on their own and are frightened to take on such enormous responsibility. They appreciate if their parents set down some limits. It is possible that these frightened children put up a front by being aggressive and domineering like terrorizing the entire classroom. As Hahnemann puts it, "He is at odds with the whole world, and has so little confidence in himself that he despairs of being able to accomplish what is demanded of him". The Anacardium child feels neglected and rejected; feels that no one is interested in him and reciprocate by not showing any interest to the thoughts and feelings of others. It is as if the devil has taken control over them. They resort to incredible cruelty and anger or rage, malicious etc.
-Homoeopathy Today, November 1999

Case 2: Carol Mel Wolf
This child initially exhibited obsessive-compulsive anxiety, which began after a visit to the dentist for a silver amalgam filling. A single dose of Arg-nit 200 cured him of his anxiety. But probably this was only the outer layer as he saw cold anger in his eyes and rude manners.

Later his parents reported that they could hardly believe that he could get so angry. He cursed, cried and went into rage if he did not get his way. Jealous of his little brother, he physically and verbally abused him He did not like to play with a new toy as he thought it was a devil. He asked a lot of questions about God and Hell and when reprimanded him, he coolly said that he did not believe in God. His mother said that he treated her as his enemy.

One interesting observation from his parents: this changed personality emerged after he developed a craving for sugar. Dr Wolf says that Anacardium children's behavior is exacerbated if they eat sugar for which they have an intense craving.(In Synthetic Repertory this remedy is not listed under the rubric- Sugar agg or desire for sugar (p273 -SR II) This is worth exploring in children-KV.)

Although his parents loved him, there was an Anacardium etiology in that his father was jealous of all the attention his wife gave to this child when he was born.

The Rubrics selected were:
Mind, cursing, swearing
Mind: anxiety, children in
Mind, anxiety, salvation of
Mind: anger, ailments after
Mind obstinate, headstrong
Mind: jealousy
Mind cruelty, inhumanity
Mind: forsaken sensation of isolation
Anac 1M -one dose changed his behaviour for the better. Followed up for one year with out relapse.

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