by Jana Kolenová
In January 2009 a mother came to see me with her 4-year-old adoptive son. The primary diagnosis, separation anxiety with psychosomatic decompensation, had already been made. In addition, the little boy suffered from constipation. At the time of the initial consultation he was in psychotherapeutic treatment with a clinical psychologist specialising in personality disorders in childhood.
The boy was hyperactive, had concentration problems and demanded his mother’s attention exclusively for himself. He was very demanding and the mother was correspondingly exhausted. The dependence on his mother had always been excessive, but reached its peak with the start of kindergarten in September 2008. The situation was so extreme that the boy had to leave kindergarten and the mother consulted a psychologist.
The boy would not leave his mother’s side. Even in the toilet the mother had to leave the door ajar so that her son could see her. If she ever had to go away without him, it was traumatic for everyone. The boy did not want his mother to go, cried loudly and could not be consoled, which upset the mother greatly. When his mother was absent the boy asked about her continuously: “When will Mummy come back?”. In this state he could not concentrate on anything else; he ran incessantly and visibly distressed through the house.
In addition to his psychological complaints the boy had suffered from constipation for 2 years. He had a bowel movement every 3–4 days, the stools themselves looked like rabbit droppings. He could not pass stool without a nappy, although for a year he had been using the potty for his wee.
Family history
The boy’s biological mother left him two days after his birth. He was cared for on the neonatal ward for two months. During this time he suffered from malnutrition and anaemia. From there he was transferred to the paediatric ward and at eight months was taken in by a foster family, where for the first time in his life he received tender care.
At 1½ years he was adopted by his current family. His new parents fell in love with him at first sight and he was carried a lot by his mother in a sling and pampered with baby massage, which he greatly enjoyed. His parents did everything to compensate for the lack of maternal love after birth. The young family shared a bed because the little one could not sleep without his new mother.
The boy sweat profusely on parts of his head in his sleep so that the pillow was wet. At night he could not bear to be covered up. A sibling was born 1½ years ago. The boy reacted to the new family member with intense jealousy.
He is a lively, fiery and energetic boy. He always needs attention and asks ceaseless questions that wear everyone around him out. When he starts to scream only his mother’s embrace can calm him. He constantly wants to know from his mother whether she loves him.
General
He is warm-blooded.
He loves meat and eats neither vegetables, fruit nor sweets.
Physically he is robust and healthy. Apart from chickenpox he has not had any other illness.
Main symptoms of the case
Fear that he might be abandoned by his mother.
Fear that he does not deserve his mother’s love.
Desperate longing for love, care and attention.
Great desire for hugs and tenderness.
Was not breastfed.
Extreme restlessness.
Plays the clown to get attention.
Jealousy.
Heavy sweating, especially at night, sometimes only on the head (like Calcarea carbonica).
Aversion to sweets (with this remedy we find either an extreme craving for sweets or a pronounced aversion).
Constipation.
Prescription: Saccharum officinale C30, once a week.
Follow-ups
Four weeks later: One week after taking the first dose the boy for the first time announced that from now on he wanted to do his big stools in the potty, which surprised the whole family. Nevertheless the mother was worried because the day before the second appointment with me her son had had his first nightmare in his life. Previously he had always slept peacefully; only that night did he suddenly cry out: “Mummy, please don’t go!” It frightened the mother greatly.
I interpreted the nightmare as a good sign: the fear of being abandoned by his biological mother had come to the surface. I was convinced the nightmares would disappear on their own.
Prescription: Saccharum officinale C30, once a week.
Three months later: The boy uses his potty without problems. The constipation has noticeably improved, only sometimes are there still small hard pellets in the potty. The nightmares lasted 2–3 weeks but have now been gone for more than 4 weeks. The boy is no longer hyperactive. When he is interested in something he can now occupy himself with it for up to two hours. He has also become more obedient. A few days ago he was able to decide whether he would go shopping with his mother or rather stay at home and play with his grandmother. He chose the latter, which seemed like a miracle to the family.
The boy still needs a lot of attention and wants to be the centre of attention. The mother believes the homeopathic treatment has reached its limits.
Prescription: Saccharum C200, one dose every two weeks.
Nine months later: The boy has had normal stools for over two months. He is a happy, cheerful child and no longer causes problems. Outside the home he still needs to be the centre of attention. He is still a little jealous of his sibling, but to a tolerable degree.
The psychologist ended the psychotherapeutic treatment of her young patient because she considered him cured. The boy’s play behaviour has now normalised: he no longer vents his aggression on his soft toys and no longer shows the aggressive behaviour that was so pronounced at the start of psychotherapy. He now plays “mums-and-dads” with his play figures. In the psychologist’s opinion he will be capable of attachment and relationships as an adult. She expressed surprise at how quickly the therapy led to success and said that in her 20 years of practice she had seen no comparable outstanding results.
Prescription: One dose of Saccharum C200, in case of a worsening.
One and a half years later: The mother reports that her son has become very jealous again. In his presence she cannot show affection to her husband because he starts to scream: she belongs only to him. Once, while the family were driving to visit friends, the mother kissed the father and the boy began to scream terribly, kick the father’s car seat and insult him.
Prescription: Saccharum 1M, single dose.
One week later: The mother sent an e-mail to say that her son had changed radically. Yesterday the father had come home and the boy had asked him whether he had “already given Mummy a kiss”. He wanted to remind his father not to forget.
Current status after 5 years (January 2014):
The boy is now 9 years old, a schoolboy. No one remembers anymore that he once suffered greatly from constipation and was plagued by nightmares. The family have adopted another child, of whom he is not jealous at all. The three children in the family love one another very much. The boy has become a happy, cheerful and healthy child without behavioural abnormalities. He is a good pupil: clever, intelligent and creative. He now admires his father greatly, who has become a big role model for him. When he is grown up he wants to be like his father. Of course he still loves his mother very much. In fact he is the most easy-going child in the family.
About once a year the remedy is repeated. We now give Saccharum 10M.
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Photo: Shutterstock:Young boy hugging his mother_217349848 © Air Images
Category: Cases
Keywords: separation anxiety, constipation, hyperactivity, malnutrition, jealousy.
Remedy: Saccharum officinale
