Behind the Glass Screen by Anne Vervarcke, Review

Behind the Glass Screen – A Homeopathic Survey of Ozone

This book contains nine cases where Ozone was used with excellent results. It is not easy to take the symptoms from a proving and then apply the information correctly. Anne has done well in these cases which all contain similar themes. She does not at the end attempt to make a summary of the remedy out of these cases although I believe she is well qualified to do this and has the necessary information. Also every new remedy can be learned more easily when we can compare it to the ones most like it, and as such it would have been a treat to see what remedies Anne would have chosen to make a comparison with and how to tell them apart.

What did I learn from these cases? I was struck by the many degrees of separation which these patients felt from their family and partners. Many of the patients expressed this as feeling as if were behind a glass screen. The theme went on to include: self imposed isolation, lack of confidence, weakness of character, yielding nature, sadness, timidity and a feeling of needing support from others.

Usually we think of the Magnesium remedies for this constellation of symptoms, one of the milk remedies or a remedy from one of the conifers. Germanium, Silica and Baryta also have a great likeness to many aspects of Ozone.

The following is a list of all the symptoms from the Ozone cases: there was a fear of others, feeling too vulnerable, oversensitivity, need for support from others, confusion (looking through a fog), taciturn nature, feeling small, retraction into a ball (fetal isolation), feeling empty, joint pain, eczema, headaches, colds and flu, helpless, chaos feeling, desire to do things perfect for others as criticisms feels like it will kill them, they take on too much responsibility, loss of sense of self (Alumina), a nobody, no self worth (Aurum, Arnica),  lost, abandoned, worthless, afraid, feeling of no foundation – floating, feels suppressed, compressed, stepped on, suffocated, no voice to speak out, very sensitive to disappointment, trust that is crushed, fear to loose control, fear to loose their identity entirely, desperation, self reproach, feel like a looser, desire to please others, withdrawn, timid, aversion to touch, put up a wall, feels obligated to do her work correctly and not answer back, feels like a doormat (Carcinosin), closed to others, strong sense of duty, loyal to their feelings, controlling everything in a ritual before bed, collects things, possessive of her things, feels too warm-aversion to a coat, fear to fall –anger when not protected from falling, exaggerates pain if she falls, sweat at night, fear of life, sensitive to noise, overly cautious, sweaty feet, to others they seem not present, dissociated from reality, wants to be loved and accepted, fear to disappear (Aids – feel too vulnerable that others can see into them), wants windows open and fresh air, feel safe in a ménage a trios, panic and suffocate if partner tries to get too close, longing for that which is unavailable, many relationships but attached to none of them (Med), sometimes eventually explode with anger, fear to betray others, easily feel betrayed from lack of affection, food or shelter, loss of connection to parents, betrayed innocence, loneliness, feels exploited, forsaken by God and country, alone, falls apart from small criticisms, feels no love from others-depressed, trembling with fear that he has done wrong - can’t express or reach his feeling, fear to say what  he feels (Mind, Emotions suppressed), bonds with others very easily broken, can’t handle any confrontation (Mind, Ailments from discord), ailments from aggressive people (Magnesium), ailments from violent or punishing parents, tries to be good, powerless, I push my husband away I want to hit someone, defenseless – can’t face the world, feels bullied, compliant, feels very small – (smaller than we see in Lac-caninum), feels small and unprotected – baby like (Lac-humanum), aversion to exist, dependant on others for survival, feels insecure. What seems most common and most descriptive of the cases was the degree of smallness they felt about themselves, small like a pebble. Lac-caninum does not feel that small and what is more Lac-caninum feels that if they do nice things to please others they can make contact and feel included again. Ozone does not have this ability; they are permanently behind the glass screen, permanently isolated.
Other remedies which have the symptom: Feels like an outcast and have to deal with deep feeling of separation from others: Aurum, Hura, Leprominium, Camphora, Aristalochia, Bismuth, Rat-r, and Lac-humanum. All of these remedies also have many good keynotes to allow them to be seen as unique and different from each other.

I enjoyed this book but there are some things to improve upon:
   · Anne notices the patients hand gestures and goes to the trouble to insert the abbreviation “(HG)” into the text but there is no attempt to describe  
     most of these gestures and if they are that important a way to repertorized them.

   · As the cases are well done Anne could have added rubrics of symptoms which could be added to the repertory such as mind symptoms,
     modalities, physical symptoms and general symptoms.

   · A summary of the psychology of this remedy such as: “Ozone is for patients that feel the need for isolation to protect a weak identity. This is
     different from Natrum muriaticum in that we do not usually see such a weak identity in Nat-mur. It is more like Alumina in this respect of
     weakness of identity as we also find in Arbutus and Cannabis indica but with Ozone the isolation can temporarily repair the fragile sense of self
     while with Alumina the mind is slower, with Arbutus there is more indifference and with Cannabis there is often a fear of insanity. Well hopefully
     she will write this summary one day as her insights would help to place this remedy into our minds with greater distinction.

Overall this text is recommended for new, intermediate and experienced practitioners.