'My father is a shit.'Concepts Ammonium Carbonicum Resentment, grudge Giving meaning
Anger, hate criticism Stating values
Closed, held in
Self worth
Idealism Dignity
Disappointment, gloom Shyness
Worker
Father
AnalysisIf we look at the theme as it emerges from the group analysis, what we get is a dis-appointed resentment towards the father. An
Ammonium carbonicum situation often has its origin during adolescence. Before this time the father is still seen as a big, strong, all powerful and all-knowing being. The image they have of him is idealised and they don’t see his weak points. Then during puberty they start to develop a more critical view. The father who was once so almighty, a mixture of God and Father Christmas, is often knocked off his pedestal, as it becomes clear that he is not as perfect as was once believed.
A variation on this theme might be an increasing grudge against society and the meaning of life. Here the disappointment in the father takes the form of a dis-appointment with life in general. We then start to see the type of coarse, bungling and awkward youth, who kicks against society and all its values, who says: '
Society is rotten, chasing after money and jobs, is this the real meaning of life?' They have to search for their own values. They are the type of 'angry young men', the punks or provos.
We can see that Am-c is similar to Caust. in many ways: neither of them can tolerate the injustices and abuse of values in society. But in Caust the feeling of injustice is predominant, whilst Am-c has more resentment. As they get older the provocative behaviour changes into a more cynical and reserved kind of attitude. They are very disappointed in their old ideals, they think that society is rotten and corrupt.
Yet another variation might be that they idealise either their father or society, although I have not seen this yet in one of my cases. It is quite likely that this sort of situation does not cause any complaints, at least not in the beginning. Later on they might get problems, when it becomes clear that everything is not as ideal as they thought. This may lead to disappointment and bitterness.
A typical rubric in the repertory is 'excitement in the evening, thinking of the things that others have done to displease him'. In this symptom we can clearly recognise the resentment, but the relation to the father figure and to the value of life is hard to see.
The reservedness is typified by: 'aversion to answer', 'aversion to go out', 'dwell on past disagreeable occurrences'.
The aggressive character is seen in rubrics such as 'abusive', 'censorious', 'cursing', 'hatred', 'malicious', and 'anger from contradiction'.
Essenceresentment towards the father, society and the meaning of life.
MindThey have a grudge against their father, especially during puberty, when they start to become rebellious. As a child they idolise their father, seeing him as a sort of god, who can do anything and who knows everything. During puberty it dawns on them that their father is just an ordinary human being with all his faults and shortcomings. This causes them to be extremely disappointed with their father, who proved to be not so ideal after all, who 'frittered away' his ideals.
They think that society is rotten and corrupt. They feel that all ideals have been sacrificed to pragmatism and greed. They become the angry and rebellious young men, the punk or provo. They cannot stand the injustices in society. One situation which might originate the Am-c state could be when they are made redundant in their job, especially if this happens because of reorganisations within the workforce, where pragmatic or financial aspects are considered to be more important than human concern.
They have a lot of anger inside them, anger and bitterness because of the many disappointments. They may express it by being irritable and rude, by cursing, swearing or criticising. But often the anger is held inside and is only expressed by surliness, obstinate silence, contrary behaviour or biting sarcasm.
Besides all this they can also be rather sad, gloomy and phlegmatic.
Am-c can be very untidy, even dirty, looking very like
Sulphur. Both have an aver-sion to bathing. Am-c also has a marked aggravation from washing. The difference between the two is that the dirty appearance of
Sulphur is a result of their laziness, whilst in Am-c it is more a form of protest, a sign that they don’t want to belong to this 'bloody awful world'.
Dreams: They dream about a big building in which they get lost and where they don’t know the way out.
A typical symptom is that they reveal secrets in their sleep.
Colour preference: 4-5DE, 23-24D.
GeneralLocation: right sided
Physique: coarse, bony, lanky; stout.
Temperature: cold, < cold, < outside.
Time: < 3 am.
Desire: coffee!!, chocolate !!, sweet, sour, tobacco.
Aversion: meat. > eating. < potatoes, alcohol.
Physical: < bathing, washing. > lying down, < stretching.
BodyPains are biting and burning.
Discharges are very acrid, watery and yellow.
Sinusitis. Colds.
Lung problems, emphysema.
Heart problems.
Stomach complaints.
Sciatica. Inflammation of the joints with contractures.
The skin and mucous membranes can be violently red, swollen, itching and burning.
DD:
Ammoniums, Carbonicums, Caust, Nit-ac,
Nitricums, Sulph.