The Dumb-Struck Girl
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1994 Jan / Feb Vol III No 1.
Gunavante S M.
Cases.
` Nat-m.

I was rudely awakened from my afternoon nap by the strident telephone. It was a family friend who was sobbing over the phone and said that her 12 years old daughter had suddenly lost her speech since last four days. She was taken to an ENT specialist who had after a thorough examination stated that the larynx was normal. He labelled it as psychogenic.

The patients uncle gave me some background of the case. The patients aunt was a divorcee. She had a 14 years old son possessing poor habits and bad behaviour due to a lack of strict training. The patients father was discussing the possibility of bringing this boy to live with them so that he could be trained and taught to behave properly. The patient overheard this conversation. Later when her father went to bring the boy, she vehemently blurted out. "Dont bring that boy into the family. Never!! and if you bring him here I will run away from the house."

The patients mother was shocked at this outburst. Within 24 hours of the outburst, the patient lost her power of speech.

When the patient came to my consulting room, I greeted her and assured her that she would be fine soon. She, however, did not utter a single word. When her uncle put his hand on her shoulder, she pushed it away.

Analysis: The problem that I faced now was how to analyze the case. The vehemence of the outburst led me to think of all the emotions like jealousy, grief, anxiety, fear, anger, hatred, etc. I got down to the bottom of the problem which was that when the patient must have visited this boys home, he must have mis-behaved with her. It must have affected her profoundly and must have embarrassed her. When she came back to her house she felt safe again and forgot the incident. Now when the patients father talked about bringing this boy to her house, those emotions deep within must have stirred up again as a possible danger to her safety.

Rubrics: The following rubrics were taken-

1. Speech affected (SR 934)
2. Ailments from fright (SR 18)
3. Hatred of those who offended him (SR 571)
4. Consolation, kind words aggravate (SR 181)

Treatment: Natrum-mur was selected and was given in 10M potency single dose followed by placebo.

The next day I got a call from the mother that the patient had, much to everybodys amazement, started talking.

With the right interpretation and the right remedy, Homoeopathy works instantaneously.