The NatrumsIn this group, Natrum muriaticum is known very well. I would almost say too well. Many homoeopaths have even taken it themselves, mostly without success. This is because a good name has been built up for this remedy: Nat-m is sensitive, reserved, a good listener. I think that this good name is not justified. At least, I have had some Nat-m patients who were incredibly awkward and difficult. I myself have also prescribed Nat-m in many cases, probably too many. You find an essence of grief, a few keynotes, and there you are, finished. Only, it often appears not to work. With one patient I was convinced that she needed it and I stuck with Nat-m for 4 months. She did not stay with me however, because nothing had changed, let alone improved.
Grief and depression, pessimism
What are the essential characteristics of the Natrums? The first, according to Morrison (1988, page 20) is grief. There is much grief about that which they have lost. They are glum, melancholic and pessimistic. They feel that things will never be right again. They get stuck in the past, when everything was still all right. Their thoughts keep going back to that time. Sometimes they can cry about it, but they will not show that.
Closed, aloneThey keep their problems inside, they are very closed and do not feel like talking about it. They have the feeling of being on their own and having to carry the burden of their sadness alone. They cannot expect in fact any help from outside, they cannot expect any help at all, let alone from outside. They have to accept their fate in a state of gloom. They withdraw and concentrate on their loss and sadness. They carry their secret grief and hide it from the outside world.
Restriction, denial, prohibitionThey have lost all faith that things could become all right again. Their loss cannot be made up for any more. They will not put any effort into regaining what they have lost. They deny the possibility of regaining their happiness and restrict themselves to passive acceptance. They can also have the feeling that it is forbidden to be happy, that they are not allowed to experience this. Thus they can be very pessimistic persons.
SensitiveThey are very sensitive, very vulnerable. Much has been taken away from them already, they have hardly got anything left. They are constantly walking around with the feeling that the rest will probably be taken away from them too. That is why they are easily frightened: all unexpected things could hurt them even more. There is also a sensitivity to music, especially soft, classical music. With this music they can let themselves be carried away in their melancholic mood.
Holding onThey have the inclination to withdraw. They will then restrict themselves to the essentials. But these they definitely want to hold on to. So they can become very attached to certain things or memories, usually from the distant past.
General characteristics
Physique: thin
Temperature: warm, < sun, < > sea.
Time: < 11 am.
Desires: salt, farinaceous.
Aversion: salt. < milk, farinaceous.
General: < lying on left side.
ComplaintsHeadache, < sun.
DD: the
Ammoniums, Kali's.
Single remedies
There are also several single remedies, such as
Graphites and
Sulphur. These remedies only contain one element, like Carbon or
Sulphur. In a certain sense these remedies also form a group, their common trait being that they are not linked to another element.
Everything or nothing
These remedies can best be characterised by their way of reacting, which is 'everything or nothing'. There is a part of their personality which is largely ignored. For instance,
Sulphur is very untidy in his clothes, he does not take any care of his appearance. On the other hand, there can be a completely opposite reaction, where a part of the personality gets totally exaggerated.
Sulphur could show this in an exaggerated way of dressing, with an excess of perfume etc. Both cases are out of balance, the harmony is lost.
No integrationThe theme of the element is, as it were, not integrated in the personality. It is not in harmony with the rest. A person in a
Sulphur state feels disgraced. The grace has left his body, his life. It has not been integrated into the whole of his personality.