12 Multiple PersonalitiesRosa's case continued
Some time later, Rosa returns. Her mother had always said to her, "If you get sick, it's a punishment from God because you did something wrong!" So since childhood she always tried to do everything right and to help everyone. The patient had a good relationship with her father, whereas her mother had a good relationship with her brother, who, however, drowned as a child. The mother blamed the father and her for this, so she felt full of guilt. Her mother forced her to go every Sunday to an aunt who taught her the Bible, which she hated doing. She studied hard but it was never enough.
DiagnosisThe analysis of this personality shows the themes of the second series, the
Carbon series with the theme of the child. As a child she had to endure this pressure from her mother. There is also the theme of the
Silver series, the theme of learning and scholarship, such as memorising the Bible. She feels pressure from her mother. Pressure is an aspect of
Phase 5, which has the feeling of only being accepted when one is achieving. Her diligent learning corresponds to
Stage 8: she tries her best, but it is never enough. She works hard and almost never takes a holiday.
This leads to
Paeonia officinalis: Plant, (
Series 6),
Silver series,
Carbon series,
Phase 5,
Stage 8. The remedy code is 3-652.15.08. This will be explained in the Appendix chapter “
Plant theory”.
TherapyThe therapy is the same as the diagnosis:
Paeonia officinalis.
CureAfter taking
Paeonia officinalis she felt much better. When she came back to my practice later, she said, "I don't need to help others anymore, I can, but I don't feel the obligation to do so. It's a 180 degree turnaround!"
52Multiple personalities
So this woman has multiple personalities. This is not unusual. It is even almost always the case. People have different personalities. They can work together, fight each other, be indifferent to each other, tolerate each other or simply be separate. It looks like a family where there are all kinds of relationships between the members of the family. A clear expression of having more personalities is when one does something that one does not want to do. It is like a child who excuses himself after an action by saying that it was not him. It is like someone having an addiction personality and a personality fighting against the addiction.
Everyone can recognise the existence of several personalities within themselves. One has a personality at work, in marriage, with friends, as a child with parents. On the one hand these personalities have similarities, but in many respects they are different. One can be a different person towards one's parents than towards one's co-workers. This view is called "Internal
Family Systems
Therapy", abbreviated IFS. Richard Schwartz explains it in his publications "Systemic
Therapy with the Inner
Family" and "No Bad Parts”.
Eckhart Tolle describes the ego as a complex of several personalities. In homeopathy the idea has arisen that we essentially have only one personality, the constitutional personality. That is incorrect, as practice has proved. There are very few patients who can be cured with only one homeopathic remedy. Many personalities may be superficial, others are very deep-rooted.
Group personalities
There are also personalities that one has in common with a group. It is a kind of cultural, social or religious personality. They are personalities that one shares with groups like family, friends, clubs, neighbourhood, cities, countries, culture, humankind, the world, the universe.
That families have personalities can be seen in family constellation therapy. The family personality is taken on most by one of the family members. Later it can shift to another family member.
Cultures also have their personalities. They are difficult to see when one is a member of that culture and cannot step out. People who represent the culture personality take on a specific role and can be very charismatic.
I had a special experience while attending a North American Indian Sun Dance. The medicine man asked me to treat the participants, because many get severe cramps during the dance because they cannot eat or drink anything and because they have to dance in the hot sun for four days. Cuprum is a great remedy for cramps and also fits with strict rules and rituals. The lack of food and drink is an aspect of Acetic acid; it is the theme of an ascetic. Many dancers indeed got violent cramps.
Cuprum aceticum helped almost all the participants with their
53
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cramps, the muscle pains, stomach complaints and severe dehydration, in more than 20 cases. But
Cuprum aceticum did not help their chronic complaints.
This is a good example of personalities, because all the participants had a similar personality at that moment. In the Sun Dance, they all wanted to be so good and show that they could bear everything.
Differentiation of personalities
The differentiation of personalities can be difficult. It is easy in the case of multiple personalities, where the personalities show up one after another. But in most cases, the personalities are a mixture. It can be compared to meeting a new family where it is difficult in the beginning to differentiate the brothers from each other. The different personalities have also similarities.
The best way is to look at the triggers of personalities. The situations that elicit a problem show the characteristics of the personality, with a goal, the achievement to reach the goal or not, the feelings of being accepted and appreciated, and the way of handling it. Often there have been similar situations in life that will clarify the state of the personality.
The differentiation becomes more problematic when the trigger is unclear. This can be an expression of
Phase 4, where one thinks everything is perfect and imperfect things will be suppressed.