The Girl Who Soiled Her Linen

NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1994 Jan / Feb Vol III No 1.
Sarla Sonawala.
Cases.
` Hyos / Nat-m / Staph.

Case 1:

A 16 year old Muslim girl, educated at a primarily school level, lost her mother when she was 12 years old. The girl gradually learned to take change of the house as well as the fathers domestic needs. When she was 14, her father married the younger sister of his late wife. Hence the girl did not suffer from the so-called "step-mother syndrome". Last year she was engaged to be married soon.

All was seemingly well when suddenly events took an ominous turn. The girl once accidentally broke a precious glass. Her mother- or aunt in a way rebuked her. Since then the girl stopped living as if. She would not work or talk to anyone just sat in a corner. She used to eat what was offered, neither complained nor demanded. The worst trouble was that she soiled the clothes by passing urine and stool sitting in the same corner. The clothes had to be torn as she resisted their removal. I thought over the case. Mothers have scolded their daughters since the beginning of mankind. And daughters have defiantly survived. Then why was there such a strong reaction in this case? Was it the envy of relinquishing the power and privilege over the household she enjoyed so far?

On this hypothesis, I gave her Hyoscyamus 200 one dose daily. Two weeks of medication made the girl clean and modest enough to attend to natures call in the privacy of a latrine an immense relief to her mother. She still held the corner with no interest social or workwise. I repeated the remedy for another fortnight. After that, no more news from the patient, as if she vanished in thin air.

Case 2: The Parasite Son

This case relates the tragedy of a mother of three sons the third son being my patient. To get the background, let me tell you the full history.

The mother a widow had three sons and two daughters. The first son was very well educated and bad a good job in USA. He was married and had a son and a daughter. He came back to India and joined a good company which offered him a lovely flat to live in. Within a year, he suddenly had a massive cardiac arrest and succumbed to it, leaving behind a widow and two orphans.

The second son lived in Canada and earned well. He refused to return to India even to marry.

The third son, the hero of this case, couldnt complete his graduation and was employed by his late fathers company merely on humanitarian grounds, as his father had served the company faithfully for years. Gradually he started quarreling with his colleagues, worked in a slipshod method, absenting himself from office for days together, and became a chain smoker.

Recently, he started talking of the girl that he had loved in his college days without her knowledge. A few months more and a new Beau appeared. He forewarned his mother that he was going to propose to a woman in the neighborhood who was already married and whose husband was often away on business tours.

At this juncture, the mother in mortal fear of a scandal, came to me alone and related the above story. On further enquiry, I found that the patient, then 30, flew into temper tantrums of throwing and breaking things whenever the mother tried to hold him back from his new mis-adventure.

The next day I called the patient, talked to him, heard him, and coaxed him to get a good young girl to marry if he behaves well. My prescription was Staphysagria 1M daily one dose.

After a week, the report was anger same, sans breaking and throwing. There was no talk of the neighboring woman but a talk of his young love continued. The same medicine was continued.

Two weeks later the mother came and told me that the patient was still irritable but no more troublesome. The memory of the old flame still lingered. This time I followed angry Staphysagria with pining Natrum-mur 1M three doses for three nights with plenty of pills.

These prescriptions of Staphysagria followed by Natrum-m in rising potencies continued for a long time. The patient started helping his mother in household work. He occasionally talked about the girl but entirely forgot of the fair neighbour. I have given him inter-current doses of Tuberculinum.

After some years, the patient retired under voluntary retirement scheme with a monetary compensation. His poor mother now in her eighties looks after him instead of the son earning and looking after her. I meet the patient occasionally on the streets of Santacruz. He greets me always. Once he requested me to visit his mother as she cannot now move out of the house.

A tragedy of motherhood ailing and lonely with one son dead, second son away in a remote land and the third son a parasite to be fed on his brothers earnings.