Climacteric Insanity
For a number of years I have had an odd case of two of insanity under my professional care, generally only one or at most two at a time. Some of these have been cases of climacteric insanity, or that which occurs at the change of life. I cured a case of senile insanity and one of insanity in a young lady a good many years ago, and these were subsequently published in the British Journal of Homoeopathy and are epitomised in my Fifty Reasons for being a Homoeopath.
The cure I now purpose to relate is of a somewhat different order, and clearly closely ailed to the menstrual function at its close, and not merely a cephalic menstruation, so to speak. That is to say, any young woman may become insane if the menstrual flux hang about in the head in lieu of taking its proper course, and here, as soon as proper menstruation sets in, the quasi-insanity is gone. Puerperal mania is analogous to this, the patient returning to complete sanity when the mind storm is over. Sometimes I have thought there is just a dash of the genuine article hidden in behind.
Now what is true genuine insanity.
Genuine Insanity : Its True Nature.
What is it? I have come to the conclusion, from a good many observations and therapeutic trials, that Genuine Insanity is CANCER OF THE MIND. By cancer of the mind I mean simply that if the ailing fix itself upon, say, the breast, we have simply cancer of the breast, whereas if it fix upon the mind-organ, we have what we commonly call insanity; this I only name parenthetically, and reserve its elaboration for a future occasion,- to dwell upon the fascinating subject now and here would lead me too far away from my present task, which deals with the ailments of the climaxis.
Of course I do not mean that any case of insanity is from the cancerous diathesis, for here I name climacteric insanity, and an insane state may from many causes; what I do mean is that many of the acutely and chronically insane, that ordinary remedies fail to touch, are, in their mind-organs cancerously affected,- this form of insanity is, in fact, a cancerosis, or carcinosis.
Now let me return to my case of Climacteric Insanity., which, by the way, is not a cancerosis.
Miss. X., thirty-seven years of age, came under my observation on September 10, 1891, father died at seventy- six; mother and most of her brothers and sisters living. She has had no period since last May, and for six and half years only here and there a menstruation, not much more than a show; numerous strumous scars under right side of jaw. Spleen very large. Had diphtheria in Rome in 1883. Much hypogastric hyperaesthesia. Right ovary terribly sensitive,, the lightest touch in the region causes her seemingly intense pain. Vaginal irritation maddening. She twitches and jumps. Severe frontal headache all her life. Used to have leucorrhoea, for which she had many vaginal injections. Three times vaccinated. Has had the Weir-Mitchell treatment. has had enlargement of the glands, mumps, varicella, morbilli, pertussis, shingles of right side of trunk. Mentally she is held to be insane by her belongings, wherefore, she has been in “homes,” and goes about in charge of a paid “friend.” she flushes in conversation, talks incessantly about the evil conduct of – others!- and her own lot. With her, sELF continues and SELF remains the one absorbing subject from sunrise to sunset. She had first Urticaria 0 as a spleen medicine, and then Viscum album l as an ovary medicine.
October 1st.- A period has come on!
Rx Kali Bromium3.
October 21st. – Much better. They (i.e., her friends and relations are bad, it is true, but not altogether devoid of regard for HERSELF
November 3rd. – Rx bursa pastoris 0.
November 26th.- Her nose has bled four times.
Rx Rep
December 3rd. – Great vaginal irritation and whites.
Rx Viscum alb. 1X, and then followed Ignatia l and puls. l.
January 4th, 1892.- saw patient with a good period, but her hypogastric hyperaesthesia was very distressing: everything that touched the hypogastric region, or even the apprehension that something might touch it, would send patient off into twitches. She was also very excited, and her attendant was almost driven beside herself, hence Rx Lyssin.30, twelve globules over a fortnight. The improvement therein was very great; she became much less excited, and the hyperaesthesia greatly diminished. Followed here a course of Fraxinux Americanus 0, to bring down the uterine enlargement.
March 1st.- Has been wonderfully better, but has had no period for seven weeks. Mindful of the submaxillary strumous scars,. I ordered Bacillin. CC., and then Bursa pastoris 0, which was followed by a period and further general improvement.
After that fraxinus americanus 0 was again given for the heaviness of the uterus, which remedy earned the sufferer’s repeated praises.
By the middle of 1892 patient began to go about with almost any lady of her own choice, and went then into society a little, and by the end of the year, the remedies already named being given as called for by their respective indications, and in addition, the sexual excitement was well met by Salix nigra 0, prepared, I believe, from the aments, and given in ten-drops doses. The Salix was given on several occasions, and mostly with benefit, lyssin. cures the same symptom, but more in the nerve sphere, whereas Salix seems to me to action the womb itself more.
April 11th, 1893. – Still under Salix nigra 0, and has had several periods, She is now quite sane, and no longer considers her relations so sinful, and at this period she began to go back in her own case historically; and made it clear to my mind that though she was now having here and there a period, the same was not “like it used to be, for formerly when I was as well as any lady could wish to be, and the joy of my darling father who was so good to me, my period was quite different an was preceded by whites, and the periods I get now have no whites with them, and they don’t do me any good.” Thinking of the suppression of leucorrhoea by vaginal injections, and of her three vaccinations, I ordered Mal. C. on May 16th.
June 29th.- Just had a period preceded by whites, and mentally she is nearly normal. She goes about by herself when she thinks she will, but generally has now a lady companion like any other well-to-do lone lady. No further period occurred, and it became manifest that she had really changed for good and all. Here a new order of things came to the fore; the patient had changed and became mentally normal (from the treatment I believe), but flushes began to worry, and the month was divided into two parts: during one part she was depressed in a wonderful degree and during the other she became sexually excited, and it took me over a year to get the mastery over these, for which the remedies were Salix nigra 0, and Bacil.30, and this last seemed to finish the cure completely.
During the years 1894-5-6 patient ran upto town to see me once in a way for some of the symptoms that recurred, and I see from my notes that Fraxinus Americanus 0, salix nigra 0, Sepia 30, Sabina 30, and Lyssin. 30 were the remedies used. The long intervals between the prescriptions led me to infer that each one duly did its work. Patient continues quite well to date, and when I saw her a few months ago she looked in splendid health, and was then off on her own initiative on a tour round the world. “I have never seen the world, but now I am so well I want to do so, and so I am off; I have no one to please but myself.” Here came a merry laugh, and”Goodbye, doctor, I am very grateful to you, but I shall come and see you again some day.”
So we see that homoeopathy patiently applied can minister to a mind diseased, only there is no specific for an abstraction bearing a name as if it were a tangible entity that had got into a wrong place, and needed only to be seized by “a cure” and outside from its place. Strictly speaking we cannot cure diseases at all. We can, however, cure people whose states and conditions bear man-given names, such as insanity, hyperaesthesia, a cold, rheumatism, or what not. It lies in the nature of things that we should think and talk of diseases as entitles, and just as every baby gets a name, so does every disease.
The forgoing case I call “Climacteric Insanity,” but other nosologists might prefer another name.
But, doctor you use such a lot of remedies; who is to know now how to cure “Climacteric Insanity?” Quite so. I once played a game of chess all night, and I really could not say which move won the game, or which portion of the night’s work caused the fever that set in next day.
“That’s a long ladder that set have got there, Carter.”
“Yes, sir, it is; but you see your house is so high!”
Severe Neuralgia Cured by Glinicum 1000
A married lady, mother of five children, verging on fifty years of age, and just changing, came to me on May 7, 1891, for severe neuralgia of the left side of face, running from left ear to the left angle of mouth, where it remains, preventing her often from opening her mouth. It first came in 1886, when she was in North Devon, and has plagued her ever since. “nothing does it any good Regular Medicine? Then how dare any self-respecting physician presume to even try to cure it?
Burnett was one of the first to speak about vaccination triggering illness. This was discussed in his book, Vaccinosis, published in 1884. He introduced the remedy Bacillinum. He authored twenty books, including the much loved "Fifty Reason for Being a Homeopath." He was the editor of The Homoeopathic World.