Men's ailments – what is that? Is it about undescended testicles, prostate complaints or erectile dysfunction, that is, disorders that exclusively affect the male sex? We wanted to learn more from our authors and hoped for homeopathic answers to the question: How and of what do men suffer? The large and varied response to this question surprised us greatly, as did the common thread running through the answers: men suffer from themselves and from being increasingly called into question. Their roles no longer fit, patriarchal structures no longer function and those who cling to them encounter rejection and resistance. Nevertheless, change in the male role is difficult because social, educational and economic imprints still exert an influence. “When is a man a man?” Which implicit rules apply to men? Several studies in America and Europe have identified certain traits that researchers consider typically masculine. These include, for example, independence, risk-taking, power over women, limited emotionality and homophobia. Central to this is the devaluation of alternative gender roles. According to the studies, internalising such norms is statistically more likely to be associated with mental health problems — problems that, like physical pathologies, are often kept quiet and covered up. For a real man, seeking help from others is a personal defeat. For fear of being seen as weak, he is very reluctant to seek help.
An American research paper sums up this dynamic as follows: “In most societies men are privileged and occupy a position of power. To maintain this, certain behavioural norms are required: one must stifle one's emotions to appear strong. The social benefits that go with this, however, have a downside.” The man becomes ill! The men in the case studies in this issue suffer from anxiety disorders, depression, burnout or addictive disorders as well as from prostate cancer or erectile dysfunction. Often behind this is “toxic masculinity”, a clinging to or inner conflict with traditional masculine patterns of thought and behaviour.
If, as Declan Hammond manages, one can reach their feelings, many patients report experiences of violence, feelings of shame, guilt and anger, self-hatred and fear of failure. Healing often requires painful processes of insight that can ultimately lead to a more mature self-confidence, a new softness and greater closeness. Empathic support plays a crucial role in this process.
Feelings of humiliation, shame and anger were also experienced by Roland Guenther in the triturations proving of a prostate nosode. This homeopathic self-experiment is confirmed, Farokh Master finds, by his clinical observations of patients with prostate cancer who, after a successful professional life, suddenly feel worthless and useless in retirement. They derived their self-worth from being responsible, strong and there for others, taking care of everything. Geoff Johnson found similar themes in his proving of testosterone. The English homeopath sees the epitome of the proving experiences in the archaic role of a father who protects and provides for his family. The loss of strength and potency can, as in the case example by Wiet van Helmond, be an indication for testosterone as a remedy.
Uncertainty about one's own role as well as the general decline in male reproductive capacity also bring another hormone into the focus of our special issue. For Christina Ari, who has studied Folliculinum extensively for years, this female sex hormone is increasingly becoming a male remedy. Conversely, women can certainly correspond to the image of a classic male remedy. When fulfilment of the paternal will — the duty-bound fulfilment typical of the iron series — determines a woman's life and suffering, Lycopodium, as in the case example by Franz Swoboda, can help her to better perceive and develop her feminine side.
When duty fulfilment and the performance pressure of the iron series determine sexuality, a man has a problem. Nowhere else do male role conflicts manifest themselves so directly as in the question of potency. Erectile dysfunction is one of the main problems men do not talk about. Remedies from the iron series, as in the case report on Vanadium sulfuricum, can help break the vicious circle of failure and performance anxiety. In the contribution by Ulrike Schuller-Schreib it is remedies from the crucifer family that help to dismantle the internal blockade. Here too, as in most of the stories in this issue, men's ailments are located primarily in the mind and not only in the sexual organs.
