Thanks to all who attended our full house Homeopathy Delaware September 2018 talk and discussion given by Christine Mercante, co- director for the group.  Chris helped us understand how Homeopathy is effective and gentle in providing relief and cure for the individual who is suffering from acute and / or chronic symptoms of depression with her discussion of several remedies. If symptoms of depression are complex and long standing, it is important to see a professional homeopath in lieu of self help.

As I write this I am listening to the song Love Hurts by the Everly Brothers on Spotify and feeling the sadness of the song. Depression is a form of sadness – it usually hurts, even though it may not be related to loss in love, as in the song.

However, any depression may be a helpless, hopeless feeling. Someone may even have underlying feelings of anger which may alternate with their sadness. A person suffering from depression/ sadness may feel better or worse at certain times of the year; may feel better or worse in the company of a friends; may wake with sadness at a certain time of the night; may feel anxiety as if something bad will happen or may even have thoughts of suicide.

For some folks their suffering may be acute depression caused by something that has happened fairly recently.  Or the feelings may be longstanding, chronic with lots of twists and turns and layers of life’s happenings. What helps one person suffering with sadness may not help the next – what one person does to compensate for feeling depressed may not be what the next person does, consciously or unconsciously, to compensate. We see how we can have the same ‘illness’ but we can vary to a significant degree in how and why the feelings began (etiology), what other symptoms are concomitant, what helps us feel better and what makes us feel worse ( modalities).

In the system of medicine called Homeopathy, a natural diluted and succussed (potentized) remedy is matched to the unique individualized symptoms of the suffering person and his / her symptoms.  Self care for sadness, using homeopathy self help books like Amanda Castro’s A Homeopathic Guide to Stress, can guide someone to choosing the remedy most similar, in its proving, to the person’s symptoms – this is based on homeopathy’s and Samuel Hahnemann’s important principle, the Law of Similars. If you are more familiar with homeopathy and if you don’t have success with a self help book, you can look up the individualized symptoms in a book called the Materia Medica with Repertory by Boericke and in Repertory of the Homeopathic Materia Medica by Kent. 

Here is a case example which shows how a remedy Christine presented at Homeopathy Delaware’s meeting helped someone with sadness.  A woman sought help for a headache that she had felt continuously for the past 3 months. She was able to sleep but her days were uncomfortable. Her blood pressure was her usual normal. She found no help from over the counter medicines.

When asked what had been happening in her life about the time of the onset of the headache, she related that she had to put down her suffering aged dog.  As she spoke about her dog her eyes teared, her shoulders tensed and pulled forward and she trembled slightly as she looked for a tissue.

When asked more about how she felt and what made her feel better or worse, she gave a long sigh before responding that she did not really want to be around people. Even though she felt sort of empty and thought a companion would be good for her, being with friends did not help.  If she did go to lunch with a friend she found that she had trouble swallowing, like a lump in her throat, if the topic of looking for another dog came up. She said that her headache was worse stooping and bending when she tried to work in her garden, an activity that normally made her feel good.  It was when getting into this position that the pain in her head became sharp.

Just knowing that this woman was suffering with symptoms of depression/ sadness/ grief after the loss of a loved one, would give sound reason to choose the homeopathic remedy Ignatia.  It is well known for curing symptoms from grieving and most importantly, allowing the person to move forward in life with their grief, in a restorative way.  But if you were not sure of the remedy Ignatia, you could use one of a few books which would help you decide.  In addition to Miranda Castro’s book, Materia Medica with Repertory by Boericke would be one and Repertory of the Homeopathic Materia Medica by Kent could be another.

We can employ the following ( CLEMS) to help us organize symptoms so that they can be looked up in one of these books. Doing this will help us decide what remedy to use.

1. Concomitants
2. Location
3. Etiology
4. Modalities
5. Sensations

Concomitants = Sadness with sighing; sadness with sensation of lump in throat
Location= Head, Throat, Mind
Etiology = Loss of her dog
Modalities = She feels worse being with company even though she desires company; her head pain is worse stooping.
Sensations = She, generally, feels empty;  her head pain feels sharp on stooping

Organizing a person’s symptoms, as above, will help you understand what symptoms are characteristic for the individual – related to their specific suffering. You will not be led astray by looking at symptoms that are common for the person.

Looking up the characteristic symptoms in the Repertory and Materia Medica will lead you to the best remedy for individual.  The introductory chapters of these books and the book by Amanda Castro will explain how to take the chosen remedy.

Upcoming Homeopathy Delaware meetings will lead you in short simple exercises using a repertory and materia medica to help you learn this fascinating and helpful way to choose a remedy. We are looking forward to seeing you there!