I am a good woman: a case of Crotalus cascavella

The 40-year-old patient came to the clinic because of hyperthyroidism and pain in the small joints.

Non-directive case taking

Patient (P): "For two years my husband has not looked after me… I have to keep thinking about it. (Gesture: rotating movement with one hand). He doesn’t look after my children either. That's why I am ill. My head feels numb and I have palpitations, joint pain and a tingling sensation in my nerves. I also have thyroid problems and feel weak. I am always tense and do not feel free. My skin used to be fair, now it has become very dark. I also do not sleep well."

"My own family is against me; my brothers are on my husband’s side. Nobody helps me."

"I am often angry (Gesture: pulls her hands towards her body) and don’t know what to do with my husband. He keeps me captive (Gesture: like a claw grabbing). I have become very suspicious."

Sayali Butala: How do you feel about that?

P: "Either I die or I kill my husband. My family is very wicked. They have bad intentions, they only wish me misfortune; they want me to suffer, they want me to die. They are jealous of me because I have everything."

"A husband should be intimate with his wife, right? My husband is not… I think he has another woman. He causes me grief and I am so angry about it (Gesture: holding); I would like to grab him by his shirt and ram my head into him. What he does is simply bad."

"He is to blame for my poor health. I never refuse him a wish, I know how to keep a man, but he only has eyes for her. He wastes all his money. Only God knows why all this is happening."

SB: What do you believe?

P: "My family has pulled him to their side… (Gesture: pulling). They have begun to influence him. He goes to my sisters and starts something with them. I am a woman, I never said 'no' to him. If I had refused, then I could understand that he has other women."

"I have become a very suspicious woman. I follow him everywhere, I do not let him be alone anymore. Of course my husband does not like that and asks why I do it." (Gesture: the hand moves in a zigzag pattern).

Guided non-directive case observation

SB: I have understood your current circumstances. Please tell me something about your childhood… whatever comes to mind.

P: "After my marriage my mother-in-law caused me many problems. She was very cunning. Because of her I have thyroid problems. When I was pregnant she starved me and did not give me anything to drink. Because of her I was very unhappy (wipes her mouth). She did many wrong things, but I hardened myself against them."

SB: How did that make you feel?

P: "I am a good woman… I always did the work they gave me… but my husband’s relatives were not good people. I was often angry and did not know what to do with that woman." (Gesture: holding)

Earlier she had spoken in the same way about her husband and used the same gesture. I realised that "anger" and "doing something to someone" were her basic feeling and the corresponding response pattern.

P: "My husband used to listen to me, but now he just does what he wants. The children do not like that either. They also think that we should either kill him or die ourselves."

She has internalised the basic feeling "either you kill or you die yourself". As the patient continually reported difficult situations, I asked her about other incidents that caused her problems. That way I can illuminate other areas of her life.

SB: Are there other situations that are difficult for you?

P: "My children's marriages. My daughter-in-law does not take good care of my son, he is not even allowed to touch her. She takes her girlfriend everywhere on purpose. If there is no food at home, you eat outside, don’t you? She will not let him touch her, how is my son supposed to live his life? My daughter-in-law gives my son a lot of grief, although he is a good man."

She changes the subject spontaneously and tells of her sisters.

P: "I am the only good one in my family. All my sisters are bad people. They are jealous and incite others against me. They have my husband and my house under control."

I notice that in all the patient’s relationships – marriage, family and mother-in-law – the others are "bad", "cause her problems" and she is the only "good" person. In her son’s marriage she sees her son as "good" and the daughter-in-law as the one who "gives him trouble".

SB: Do you have dreams?

P: "I dream of my husband having affairs with other women. I also have nightmare dreams. Sometimes I dream of water, sometimes of snakes. Sometimes I dream of huge masses of water that sweep me away. I feel great fear and wake up startled."

"I dream of people chasing me with sticks but they cannot kill me. I run and run and can hide. They chase me because they want to kill me. That frightens me and I wake up."

"I am not a bad person. I have done nothing wrong."

Again we have the feeling of "good" and "bad", this time in the dreams. However, the patient here represses: "I am not a bad person." At this point it became clear to me that the focus of the case lay here, which I had to pursue further to reach the core of the feeling.

Now the patient changed the subject again and spoke once more of her anger. In case taking this is an important point: when the patient suddenly changes the subject and reports on something quite different, there is often an unconscious association behind it.

P: "I get angry often, but I mostly keep it to myself; I cannot show my anger. My sisters are constantly at my home. I think they do that to annoy me. I am ashamed of my anger, but cannot say anything." "I dream of snakes."

Here it is noticeable that she speaks of her anger in connection with her dreams. That is important. At the point where she describes her anger she again switches very spontaneously to her dreams, and in particular to the dreams in which snakes appear. This is an indication that this is indeed an unconscious association.

SB: What exactly do you see in your dreams?

P: "Small and large snakes, they do not bite but only wind themselves around me. My son has started a company; people are after his money. People are after him and after me as well."

SB: Do you have fears?

P: "Of ghosts. As a child I was afraid of my big brother. He hit me and pulled my hair when I did not do what he wanted. Later I was then afraid of cats. They always scratched at the door with their claws."

SB: Describe your fear of cats.

P: "The sound seemed as if someone wanted to open the door. They come and want to harm me and my children; they want to kill us. Someone will come, take me and kill me. I was often very afraid."

In her dreams the patient was also pursued by people who wanted to kill her. Her fears also revolve around this theme. In her anger she expresses the desire to kill someone herself; in her fears the opposite is expressed – someone will kill her. There must therefore be a connection between the two feelings.

Focus: 'I am a good woman', because it appears in many areas – consciously and unconsciously.

Level of feeling?

Although the patient mostly spoke about concrete situations, feelings and perceptions came to the surface. She is therefore operating on a higher level and requires a high potency, e.g. 1M. In addition the patient identifies far too strongly with the respective situations. Methodical approaches to dissociation may be necessary to help her set boundaries and recognise her true self.

Sphere?

The patient spoke on a general level, did not fixate on localities, nor did she run through vital sensations. We therefore remain on the general level.

Initially there were a few gestures, but nothing that repeated during the case taking.

Active history

SB: Tell me more about "I am a good woman".

P: "I look after everyone, I do all the housekeeping alone. I care for my mother-in-law, I am a very soft-hearted person."

Earlier she had said she had "hardened herself against it", so she negates. She seems stuck in this situation and must dissociate from it.

SB: What do you mean in general by "good woman". Not referring to you personally, but generally…

P: "She is not a fraud, she does not cheat and she does not take up with other men. She hates no one and does nothing wrong. She is not jealous of anyone. She harbours no bad intentions and does not think ill. All other women sin. She herself does nothing bad, she thinks well of other people. She is not cunning, false or dishonest."

"Everyone is against me, cause me so many problems and still I do none of these things. My own family, my husband’s family, all wish me harm and still I am a good woman, I do nothing to them."

She described the subject very nicely and was able to engage well with the passive, non-directive case taking. At times spontaneous negation occurred, which supports our assumption that what she describes belongs to her and is not mentioned by chance.

Since the focus of the case has now been confirmed, I begin the active part of the case taking, the active observation. I continue to question the woman about the theme of the "good and bad" woman to see where the case leads.

Active history

SB: Please tell me more: Is there anything else a "good woman" does not do? And what do "bad" women do?

P: "They have the men under control, they seduce them. I am not a bad woman at all. I hate other men."

The strong spontaneous negation indicates sensitisation to the subject.

SB: Tell me more about "bad, cunning women".

P: "They control and seduce men. They sleep with other men and carry a lot of anger within them. They argue with their husbands. They ruin other people’s marriages because they expect a financial advantage. They wish others ill, they poison the lives of other people and destroy families."

She has narrowed the focus further and associated it with "anger". She is also now using non-human language, which gives us initial clues about the animal kingdom and its subdivisions. The patient changes the subject and again speaks about her present situation.

P: "My sisters take money from us and do not return it; they take it and just spend it. They have all become enemies."

SB: What do you mean by that? How do you feel about it?

P: "I am jealous and angry. They have my husband and our money under control (Gesture: the hands form a claw and grab), over both! I do nothing wrong and yet they do this to me."

The case began with the relationship to the husband and through dissociation the patient closed the circle, i.e. returned to that situation. The animal kingdom also became clearly evident. I asked the patient at this point to describe her "raging anger" and her dreams in more detail, as they play an important role in this case.

SB: Please say something about your "raging anger":

P: "I would like to kill myself or others. Previously I was so angry with my mother-in-law that I would have liked to thrash her and then hide somewhere. But I only thought about it, I never put it into practice. I was far too afraid for that."

SB: Please tell me about your dream in which you are chased by people who want to kill you. What exactly happened in the dream?

P: "Yes, they had sticks in their hands and wanted to beat me. I hid and they go away but come back. They will kill me, they will drag me away."

Confirmation

SB: The dreams of the snakes?

P: "Black and grey; large and small; yellow and white, all mixed up." "I cannot speak because of anger."

The connection between emotion and physical manifestation suggests that it comes from within.

General physical symptoms

Cravings: lamb, potatoes, cabbage, bananas

Aversion: chicken meat, apples, sour foods

Temperature: chilly, complaints worse from heat

General aggravation: all complaints begin or worsen at night, at 14:00, at 15:00 (when she has fever), from vomiting or diarrhoea.

Physical peculiarities

Tingling alternating with numbness; tingling as if an animal were crawling. Numbness as from a blow < mornings, > stretching, massage.

Laboratory values

TSH – 0.01 microIU/mL  (0.35 – 4.94)     
T3 – 11.1 ng/mL (0.58 – 1.59)
T4 – 18.85 microg/dL  (4.87 – 11.72)  

Medications: Neo-Mercazole 10 mg 1-0-0

Analysis

She is a "good woman" and her own family is against her: brothers, sisters and in-laws.

She reacts sensitively to any injustice.

Her family harbours wicked intentions and has everything under control. They have drawn the husband to their side.

People who have others under control.

Everyone causes problems. Even her own son is overwhelmed with problems by his wife.

Everyone has become enemies.

People deliberately make fun of her, annoy her – either the sisters or the daughter-in-law.

Fear of and dreams of people who chase and injure or want to kill her.

Main complaint: sensation as if an animal is crawling.

Everything points to the animal kingdom, with the emphasis on the struggle for survival: me against others. The patient regards everyone as potential enemies and experiences great problems and injustice from those around her.

Other themes: mistrust, jealousy, instigation, cunning, sensitive to sexual topics, seduction, sleeping with others and sin; deceit; control over others; poisoning; others want her to suffer and die; dreams of snakes.

This is an indication of the order of snakes (Ophidia). The patient also spoke of "poisoning", a term that can be attributed to the ur-substance, i.e. a snake. The unconscious realm of dreams also reflects this.

She therefore reported: "I am often angry; I would like to grab them, but what should I do with them then? I would like to kill them, whether my husband or my mother-in-law. I am often angry but keep it to myself, I cannot express the anger. I am raging with anger, but cannot say it. I see these people who chase me with sticks and want to kill me, but they do not succeed. I run and hide then. They are after me and want to kill me. I would have liked to thrash them and then hide. But I only thought about it, I never put it into practice. I was far too afraid for that. Small and large snakes, they do not bite but only wind themselves around me; yellow and white, all mixed up."

This describes exactly the essence of Crotalus cascavella with much suppressed anger. Furthermore, with this remedy we have fear of attacks and dreams of a group of people pursuing and attacking (prism).

Prescription: Crotalus cascavella 1M, three doses.

We prescribed three doses because the patient’s complaints and condition were very intense.

Differential diagnosis: Naja tripudans is similar; these patients also feel stuck, feel helpless, oppressed and taken advantage of by others. But the "suppressed anger and fury" in connection with "being attacked by a group of people and having to hide" does not belong to Naja.

Follow-ups

First follow-up: She reports that the remedy helped her well. Her appetite has improved, she has gained weight and feels more relaxed. The anger has diminished. The nightmare dreams have stopped. She also reports that "my husband is now completely normal, he has pulled himself together", which indicates that her perception has changed. We recommended the patient see her GP and have her medications adjusted. Prescription: placebo.

Follow-up four months later: on the whole the patient was better, the joint pain had decreased, the anger as well, the problems with the family and the dreams had resolved. The patient now takes only half a tablet daily, but the thyroid values would not improve further. We prescribe Crotalus cascavella in repeated doses. This time she receives a C200, because the complaints had shifted more to the physical sphere. The new dosage is Crotalus cascavella C200, one dose every five days.

Follow-up after eight months: on the whole she is better and the TSH values are good (0.58, normal). We again recommended she have her medication adjusted by her GP. In addition we reduced the homeopathic remedy because the patient was doing significantly better. Prescription: Crotalus cascavella C200, one dose every 15 days.

Follow-up after 12 months: The medication was stopped by the GP. Physically and emotionally the patient was stable, her marriage had improved and she felt well. Prescription: Crotalus cascavella C200, one dose per month.

Follow-up after 18 months: all medicines stopped, now receives only placebo. TSH normal (2.53). The patient is generally much better.

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Photos:

Shutterstock: Angry young woman; davfiestaw
Wikimedia Commons: Crotalus; Selbymay; CC BY-SA 3.0

Category: Cases

Keywords: injustice, enemies, injure or kill, mistrust, jealousy, seduction and sin, poison, suppressed anger, fury

Remedy: Crotalus cascavella