32-year-old woman. Elegant, well-groomed appearance.
Patient (P): "I have come because of two complaints: I have this rash; it is on my arms and hands, on the soles of my feet and on my back. My GP said it was dermatitis and gave me cortisone cream, but I am still suffering from itching. The rash might be related to stress. I could live with that, but the itching is unbearable.
Also I have bouts of severe insomnia. I ease it a little by taking zopiclone, but that is addictive, and that is not what I want.
It is devilish when the itching has me in its grip. I can hardly function then. I get anxious, palpitations, I get hot and cold, my nerves are raw, and I am not in a good emotional state. I am usually cold and I feel chilly. The rash is reddened in spots, with tiny little blisters. It looks like little spots of blood under my skin coming to the surface and spreading. I have the feeling that my skin is tingling. The skin tingles, and it feels as if small creatures, like ants, are crawling all over my body. It goes through me to the marrow (gesture: arms crossed over the abdomen). It feels as if I would lose my mind if this goes on and I can’t get it under control."
Jonathan Hardy (JH): Tell me a little more about what it would mean to you to lose your mind.
P: "Extreme fear, the feeling of losing control, not being grounded. Being desperate, out of balance, unsettled, in a non-functioning state. One cannot function any more, one loses control. I have experienced this feeling of extreme fear and feeling switched off in recent years, at times. My financial situation has changed dramatically. A constant change. That is a big change for me. I am afraid that I will not be able to support myself emotionally and financially. My autonomic nervous system is constantly on alert, and it tingles everywhere. No matter what I do, I cannot switch it off – although I have just meditated on it for over an hour... Everything in me hums and buzzes, as if a kind of electric shock runs through me constantly – a low humming electrical energy. I can almost hear the humming. My whole body tingles. It is a constant low humming; if it were a sound it would be 'zzzzzzzzzz', as if shock waves were being sent through my chest. This has given me a sleep disorder. I simply cannot switch off."
JH: Please describe your nature and personality.
P: "I am very empathic, I can feel into other people and understand their pain. (Hand movement like a pincer with thumb and forefinger). I am introverted; I can withdraw completely for a few days, but generally I like company and other people. I am headstrong: when I want to do something I focus on it and do not relent. I am fiery – this has nothing to do with anger – but fiery in the sense that something drives me on, that I pursue and never give up. I want to do everything right, I feel driven and work too hard. I live in a heavy state of strain and constantly think about what I want to do next. My mind never rests. I am ambitious and want to make a name for myself, to stand out. I like learning something new. (Hand movement: pincer). I always feel that I must learn more in order to move forward (body gesture: forward movement). I want to learn more so that I am better than the other lawyers in my area, so that I have an advantage (hand movement: pincer). I have always done it this way. I work in a very competitive environment. I must ensure that I am a top performer – but not in the sense of pushing someone else out. For me it is about working very carefully, doing the best possible work with the best tools, so that I can make a name for myself. That does not work if I rest on my laurels, but only if I am always up to date with everything that is happening around me. It is a world that is constantly changing (hand gesture). My work fascinates me. I find it totally absorbing. I work far more than my colleagues (scratching – itching). I have to get ahead. Everything changes, and I have to get even better at what I do."
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JH: Do you have dreams?
P: "I am in a house. When you go through the door the whole body is affected. It is a place where there are dark spirits, and they approach me. I had this dream earlier as a child – spiky monsters drag me away – or my body is pulled into the wall by a force much stronger than I am; it is an alien, a monster with large spikes all over its body. The other problem is that I have a very sharp sense of smell."
JH: Please tell me something about your childhood.
P: "I am one of three children. We had a stable environment, but it was very repressive. We did not live exactly in fear, but it was not a relaxed environment. There were massive food intolerances and eating disorders in my family. My youngest sister was severely anorexic; her weight dropped to 25 kg. My mother had an eating disorder; she ate almost nothing. There was nothing to eat and we were always hungry. My mother hated cooking; she never had enough food for us. If you said you were hungry, she was nasty to you. We were always hungry.
I had recurring extreme anxiety attacks for years.
JH: Can you describe that anxiety more closely?
P: (Pincer-like hand movement) "It is a feeling of cramping and fear, or I worry that something terrible will happen. It is linked to loneliness and abandonment, the feeling of being totally alone; no one is there, there are no friends, no family. It is very sterile. It is a gloomy, dead place. There is absolutely no one there. That is very extreme."
JH: Say more about this dead place.
P: "It is about pure survival. Fear because no one is there. I am afraid of being alone, and there is no one there. The feeling is desolate. It feels as if I were in a dark desert stretching for miles, endless, lonely, abandoned. I became aware of the relentlessness, that it never ends. I survived only because I was so sociable, and I felt better when we met my cousins and friends."
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Case analysis
Animal-kingdom themes
Wanting to stand out Competition Having success Having an edge, being at an advantage Not pushing anyone out A competitive environment "I do much more than my colleagues." Making a name for herself She clearly shows animal-kingdom themes with competitive behaviour.
Insect themes
Change
Constant change, transition
Fear of poverty
Feels driven
Wants to learn more
Does not give up
Does far more
Continuous improvement
Always getting better at what I do
Fascinated
Clothing: stylish, odd
Speaks coolly and with structure
Itching
Tingling sensation "like ants on me"
Aliens
Hand gestures: the pincer-like hand gesture with finger and thumb is characteristic of an insect remedy.
The main themes in insect cases are: change, improve, and keep working.
Desert themes
Lonely, sad
Gloomy
Sterile
Barren, desert
Specific rubrics and themes
Aversion to being alone
No one is there
Desire for company
Sociable
Hungry; hunger, not enough to eat
Desperate, insecure
Mad, psychotic, unbalanced
Fear of losing control
Humming, electrical sensations
Remedy: Schistocerca americana
Themes from the two provings
- Schistocerca Americana – proving of the desert grasshopper by Todd Rowe
Desert grasshoppers develop larger brains when they swarm. The life situation – solitary or gregarious (in the swarm) – has, according to a study by scientists at the University of Cambridge, a dramatic influence on their brains. Brains of swarming grasshoppers are 30% larger and the regions associated with learning and processing complex information are more developed. In solitary grasshoppers the brain regions associated with sight and smell are proportionally larger.
Core sensation: transitional phase between two states.
1. Solitary state with a sense of timelessness.
2. Intoxicated state which is very social.
Panic and mania.
Feelings of destructiveness.
Apocalyptic mood.
Sensitivity to noise.
High-pitched tones that buzz in the ears, feeling as if the body is vibrating.
Feeling of humming and buzzing.
- Schistocerca Gregaria – desert locust – proving by Peter Fraser and Misha Norland
1. Group dynamics: conformity, belonging, isolation.
Either the feeling of being part of the group, or feeling completely alone: no middle state.
Wanting to be part of the group and to feel belonging.
Feel rejection very deeply – they then consider themselves terrible people and unacceptable in the group.
Suspicion that others in the group are talking about them.
2. Fear of losing control.
3. Physical contact: strong need for physical contact and communication, which can lead to irritability and tension.
The locust plague has enormous destructive power. Swarms of billions of locusts can destroy large parts of crops and vegetation. It is also the insect most commonly eaten by humans. When food is scarce it exists for long periods in the solitary form, but when food is abundant more animals survive, and repeated physical contact between individuals causes a hormonally driven transformation into the gregarious form, which reproduces rapidly, leading to the development of enormous swarms.
Important theme in this case: the connection with desert, hunger and famine.
The patient had the feeling of being in an endless, timeless and infinite desert. This evoked the dreadful feeling of being completely alone. In her childhood she had been "sociable", and what saved her were all her "friends and cousins". That is precisely the dynamic of this remedy: the feeling of being alone, which produces fear and loneliness, alternating with a gregarious state.
Further information about these excellent provings can be found on the proving website www.provings.info.
Prescription: Schistocerca gregaria C 200, single dose
Follow-up: 3 weeks later
P: "The itching has gone. I am very impressed. It is such a relief. I definitely feel that my mood has improved; I have less anxiety. I am sleeping better, and for several nights now I have not taken sleeping tablets."
JH: How are the humming sensations?
P: "Much less, very much better."
Further follow-ups: she has continued the treatment so far for two years. She has recorded enormous improvements. Her skin symptoms have disappeared. Sleep and energy are much better. The anxiety and depression have greatly reduced. After 18 months I switched to Schistocera americana. I have the impression that she responds equally well to both forms of the grasshopper remedy.
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This article was published on www.interhomeopathy.org
Photo: blue-red grasshopper; Jürgen Weiland
Category: Cases
Keywords: buzzing, tingling, itching, skin crawling, desperate, out of control, extreme, hunger, desert, desolation, sociable, ambition, competition, change, insomnia, insects, ants, extraterrestrials, locust
Remedies: Schistocerca gregaria, Schistocera americana
