Seasonal
Affective Disorder (SAD) & Homeopathy
In the dead of winter, the
topic of stress requires coverage of the season’s most
pertinent issue: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD),
sometimes referred to as Winter Depression. Depression
in winter happens when less sunlight lowers melatonin
levels. Light therapy helps a great deal as, of course,
can homeopathy. Repertorizing Seasonal Affective
disorder puts the devil in the details again as the
condition did not have a title when the historic Materia
Medica were written, and the light-sensitive hormone
Melatonin was not yet known. Repertory listings specific
to SAD are quite sparse, but the clues to show which
remedies apply can, through creative indirection, be
gleaned from the homeopathic repertories.
Under the topic Winter, only one outstanding reference
appears in Schroyen’s Synthesis and Kent’s Repertory:
Generals: Seasons - winter;
in: ·aggravates,
(i.e., aggravated by winter):
Acon,
Am-c,
Ars,
Aur,
Bry,
Camph,
Dulc,
Fl-ac,
Hell,
Hep,
Kali-c,
Lyc,
Mang,
Mosch,
Nux-m,
Nux-v,
Petr,
Psor,
Puls,
Rhus-t,
Stront-c,
Verat [please note these are only the higher ranking
remedies]
Robin Murphy's Homeopathic
Medical Repertory offers the same listing for Winter
under Environment, plus the listing: Environment:
SUN, sunlight ameliorates:
Plat,
Stram,
STRONT - C,
Thuj
[limited again to highest ranking remedies]
Under Mental symptoms winter and sadness are only
indirectly linked, as in Schroyen’s Synopsis, which
offers: Mind: Sadness
- sunshine, in: amel.
plat
- cold, from becoming:
cimic,
Phos,
teucr
Equating Winter with Cold or Change of Temperature to
Cold yields a greater range of possibilities when
repertorizing a case of winter sadness, but not so much
as one might expect.
Fortunately,
materia
medica listings and, better yet,
interpretations thereof by contemporary homeopaths, can
guide us to answers as well. Even in newer books, the
diagnosis Seasonal Affective Disorder itself is a rare find, but crossing the
mental symptoms for anxiety, fatigue, and depression
with appropriate modalities (worse for cold, better for
sunlight…) provides some workable connections.
Miranda Castro’s book, A Homoeopathic Guide to Stress,
offers a very pertinent list of remedies applicable to
individuals or conditions affected by weather and
temperature changes, which includes the following cold
sensitive remedies:
Aconitum nap,
Agaricus musc,
Arsenicum alb,
Baryta carb,
Causticum,
Chamomilla,
Conium mac,
Dulcamara,
Hepar sulph calc,
Mercurius sol,
Natrum carb,
Nitricum acidum,
Nux vom,
Phosphorus,
Rhus tox,
Sepia,
Silica
In her description of these,
she offers three which stand out as
particularly applicable to Seasonal Affective Disorder:
Causticum,
Phosphorus
and
Rhus tox. Granted, the remedies she lists as
physically worse for cold, such as
Arsenicum,
Nux vom
and
Sepia certainly deserve a place in any discussion of
emotional responses to stress - when space allows.
For
Causticum, she offers: Sensitive to cold, dry
weather, to change in temperature or weather to dry.
These are chilly people who feel worse when the weather
changes to clear, dry and cold. They have a sense of
release during mild, wet weather - both emotionally and
physically.
For
Phosphorus, she lists: Ill effects of any change in
temperature or weather. Lively, sensitive types who need
the sunshine to feel fully alive. They become depressed
in the dark, cloudy days of winter and brighten up in
the spring. They can also predict storms coming because
they invariably get a headache.
 Rhus tox for Seasonal
Affective Disorder (SAD)
Why would the Rusty Gate
remedy so renowned for its prowess in treating rheumatic
pain, joint pain and stiffness which improve with
motion, be given so much prominence for winter
depression? A closer look yields insights too
often overlooked.
For individuals affected by
depression in winter, Castro says of
Rhus Tox: Ill effects...of a
change in temperature from hot to cold; of cloudy
weather; of damp, wet or foggy weather; to getting
wet;to the wind. This remedy is for those who are
sensitive to the cold...they become depressed in the
dark, cloudy days of winter and typically they suffer
from many rheumatic or arthritic symptoms from the cold
or damp in any shape or form.
The most striking connection
between
Rhus tox’s mental and physical manifestations
comes from Roger Morrison’s description in Desktop
Guide: The hallmark of the remedy is progressive
stiffness, often coming after a period of restlessness
or overuse. Which falls at the end of Morrison’s insight
into the deepening stages of
Rhus tox’s mental
picture: The early stage finds a patient who is cheerful,
joking and very lively; he is quick-witted and friendly
yet peculiarly timid. This animated stage is replaced by
an inner restlessness and agitation… irritable and
easily frustrated. ... can be a very useful remedy in
behavior disorders of children with restlessness and
great irritability or even maliciousness….
As the pathology deepens, the patient becomes as stiff
and rigid on the emotional plane as he is on the
physical plane. ... depression and moroseness…. becomes
stiff and fixed mentally as well… a stage of
compulsiveness and ritualistic behavior.
Rhus tox is one
of the most superstitious of all remedies.
Once again homeopathy turns
a nasty pest into a paragon of healing virtues. Every
nature lover is missing out who does not embrace the
insights homeopathy yields to the healing powers of
nature’s poisons.
- Stress
Concerns & Homeopathy
- More Singles for Winter Stress
|
Data and information provided on this site
represent the views of their authors.
TxOptions.com and Homeopathic Laboratories
of Pennsylvania believe that the public is
best served by a robust exchange of ideas.
The opinions and information contained in
these articles and comments do not
necessarily represent those of TxOptions.com,
its affiliates or parent company,
Homeopathic Laboratories of Pennsylvania.
Readers should not consider these articles a
substitute for sound medical advice. |
|
