Unaffected by small perturbations: a case of Viola tricolor

A twenty-one-year-old student presented in August 2010 with recurrent tonsillitis with white pustules, from which he suffered several times a year (not only in winter). Swallowing then becomes very painful, and each episode lasts 1–2 weeks. Eighteen months earlier he had, after sexual intercourse, intermittent urethral discharge with irritation of the glans.

Further complaints: headaches, tearing pains, worse from noise. He missed lectures for six months. He is completing his master's degree in physics and wants to become a scientist.

Patient (P): "My immune system needs to be strengthened. I constantly feel as if I'm coming down with something.

I have two sisters. At home the atmosphere is strained: my grandmother is very irritable, and that annoys the others; there are frequent arguments. I will soon study abroad, and I am a little worried; I don't have butterflies, but scorpions in my stomach. I get diarrhoea when I'm excited, before exams or before a date with a girl. Lately I'm trying to learn to control my feelings better and to teach myself to stay calm."

In the past six months I have been living with a friend, but I had no corner of my own, and that is very important to me. I am an introverted person and find it hard to work when many people are around me. I like being alone. I enjoy hiking and going to the theatre. I have only a few friends, only a few very close ones; "three musketeers ... three comrades" [1]. I am old-fashioned in my relationships. I am a gentleman and need both: girlfriends and friends. I am sensitive and easily hurt. In my free time I play guitar and listen to classical music. I like being outdoors in nature. I am very emotional and try to overcome that. Once my doctor said I would get an inguinal hernia; I then fainted. I find freestyle swimming difficult because water gets into my ears.

My birth began when my mother's sister had taken the blood pressure and left her lying alone with an inflated tourniquet. My umbilical cord was clamped incorrectly. As a child I walked on tiptoe and began to speak late.

I have a quick temper. Lately I have little patience for things I don't want, both with other people and with society, or when I am forced to do something against my will. I don't want to speak to people I don't like. The opinion of people I don't know is of no concern to me. I care only for my closest circle of friends. I like the United States less and less: people here are hypocritical and like robots. I also don't like the local education and health systems. I need my own corner."

Interviewer (RB): "Tell me about your corner?"

P: "No one is allowed to disturb me here" (hand gesture: trembling hand), "otherwise I cannot concentrate on my things and I become irritable: a flash in the head, eyes wide open, I have to take a deep breath, a feeling of a small explosion in the head, as if something has been destroyed; the concentration is gone, and I am angry. I wait for it to pass, I cannot continue my train of thought and feel disappointed; weakness in the chest, in the arms and legs, helplessness ... I no longer have the situation under control. I want to distance myself, but cannot. I have not fulfilled my mission. I am worried, irritable and wavering; I want to go back."

RB: "Does that remind you of anything?"

P: "Of the wind or of a violin" (spontaneous). "A childhood dream: waves, a point that expands and contracts; it occurs simultaneously in three of my senses (seeing, hearing, feeling)."

He feels dependent on his healthcare service and is anxious about his health.

Analysis
The main theme of the case is his wish to be alone and his sensitivity to disturbances. This corresponds directly to the vital sensation of the Violales order according to Rajan Sankaran [2], including the aversion to disturbances and avoidance of other people, his petulance, and on the physical level the sharp, stabbing, tearing headaches. The general hypersensitivity and the twofold sensations (disturbance and avoidance of the same) support classifying the case in the plant kingdom.

The number "three" is a strong theme in this case: three siblings, the three musketeers, three comrades, three senses.

With regard to the known symptoms of the remedy [3] we observe his introspective, sulky manner and his reluctance to speak, his sadness about domestic relationships, his hypochondriasis and physically an affinity to the urinary organs (swelling of the foreskin with itching). The typical indifference of the remedy here seems directed at the outside world rather than friends.
During the "passive case-taking" [4] the theme of his need for his own corner repeatedly came up. Thus began the "active-passive" phase of the history with the question about his experiences with his own corner.

In his answer he referred unprompted to his headaches. At the same time his statements began to become more disjointed; he said that he was unable to fulfil his mission and mentioned the sensation of swaying, which his hand gestures reflected. Overall this showed that he was now expressing himself in the language of the source – in the language of his remedy. Finally, in the "active-active" phase he referred to the violin and spontaneously recounted a childhood dream, in which the theme "three" appeared once more.

A possible central theme of the remedy is the wave [5]: the remedy shows various wave-like sensations (swaying, staggering), e.g.:

Head; swaying sensation (89)
Heart and circulation; swaying, wave-like, heart (8)
Heart and circulation; palpitations, wave-like (1)
General; wave-like sensation (163)
General; pain; wave-like, swaying (86)

This could, in connection with the dream of a wave, indicate an aspect of the remedy that may prove to be quite central.

According to Michal Yakir's table of plant systematics [6] we recognise the following characteristics: the order Violales belongs to the fifth stage of the table, which represents the split between the feminine and masculine evolutionary impulses, especially between boundless emotions and the mind that attempts to control them (e.g. the Viola odorata symptom: the feeling is dominated by the intellect). This relates to the mental reaction of patients to their hypersensitivity to all external stimuli.

Those concerned often have scientific interests or are obsessively engaged with minor details, show a certain rigidity and like to adhere to rules, contrary to their desire for individual development and the fulfilment of their personal, unique vocation.

The fear of examinations relates to the early stages (series in the plant table), to ambition regarding success in the world, which is characteristic of the fifth stage; stage four mainly shows permeability due to immaturity and with regard to personal boundaries, which provokes withdrawal and separation as a response.

Finally, the state of the outside world can intrude, and as the rigid mind — comparable to the string of a musical instrument — resists, when disturbed by an external force it reproduces that disturbance as a vibration in the form of a sound wave. In this sense the wave is on the one hand an expression of the disturbance and on the other its dissolution (cf. the aversion to playing the violin in Viola odorata); thus the theme "wave" and the feeling of swaying characterise the whole Violaceae family.

Prescription: Viola tricolor C 9 once daily

Follow-ups

Six weeks later: Headaches at the start of term at university. Occasional tiredness: "I'm much more diligent than before!" He twice had an incipient tonsillitis, but it did not develop into the full illness.

"I get on better with the people around me."

Prescription: continue Viola tricolor C 9 once daily.

Eleven weeks later: he had a tonsillitis episode, but not as severe as usual.

RB: "What is your favourite music?"

"Bach's Chaconne in the guitar version by Andrés Segovia."

Prescription: increase the potency of Viola tricolor to C 12 once daily.

Sixteen weeks later: "No more tonsillitis, apart from an occasional dull pain on the inside of the mouth on the left side, but nothing develops further. I can cope much better with stress, and emotionally I am much better. I worry less and can enjoy life more. I take great pleasure in my studies."

RB: "What is your specialism in physics?"

"I study states that are unaffected by small perturbations."

Prescription: increase the frequency: Viola tricolor C 12 twice daily.

Course over the next two and a half years:

Energy, mood and appetite good. Practically no acute illnesses any more; any trace of them responds immediately to the remedy.

"I have more self-confidence." (noted by a girlfriend).

The remedy was initially given daily, then twice daily in gradually increasing potency. Previously he had been anxious and very preoccupied with his health; now he is much more independent. He decided to stop the treatment.

I thank Dr David Nortman for his support in presenting this case.


This article was published on www.interhomeopathy.org.

 
Photos
Tall waves on the surface of the ocean; © shutterstock.com - Anatoli Styf
Viola tricolor © Jürgen Weiland

References

[1] The Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas; Three Comrades is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque.

[2] R. Sankaran Schema, Version 2007, p.23

[3] Mainly from Allen's Encyclopedia

[4] D. Chauhan: The Scientifically Intuitive Case Witnessing Process: The Journey of Three Steps

[5] R. van Zandvoort Complete Repertory 2013

[6] Yakir, M., Wondrous Order - Systematic Table of Homeopathic Plant Remedies

Category: Cases
Keywords: control of feelings, aversion to disturbances, quick-tempered, waves, violin, desire for solitude
Remedy: Viola tricolor