4. Emotional psychoneurosis. It is related to these cases by vagosympathetic disequilibrium that it accompanies and provokes or proceeds. The case of this type appear very frequently during actually troublesome times. They are often complex. One may find in them excitement as in psychasthania and rather a vagosympathetic unstability with emotion, hypersensibility to all impressions, exaggeration of senses and of impression.
There troubles may be provoked by physical and moral pain, anger, joy and above all by fear A very frequent case is this: It is the question of a woman who after a violent emotion or a series of emotions, is attacked by a stage of unceasing fear. She cannot remain alone, she cannot go out either alone or even accompanied, without being attacked by an invincible agony, or she cannot go into a cave, or pass into a lobby without window in it. One treats these patients by steps.
These are anxious neurotics, such as were found during or even after the war or during revolution. The homoeopathic remedies of this stage are: Lachesis, Ignatia (with prudence), Moschus, Aconite, Cimicifuga, Gelsemium, Ambra grisea (aggravation by music) These conditions of emotional psychoneurosis are more rapidly and easily cured than psychaesthenia or true neurasthenia.
C. It remains now to speak of True and Confirmed Psychopathies for which the precision of homoeopathic treatment is not yet thoroughly studied. Our personal experience is very candid and as for the different authors who speak of cases of this type treated by them with success, we are not bound to accept their savings but with prudence, because of the want of clinical experiences for which the old fashioned homoeopaths are to be reproached. We will therefore be satisfied in stating briefly some cases:
A CASE OF MELANCHOLY. It is the case of a worker in a bank, married, father of two children, depressed b y worldly cares, who seemed to be incapable to do his work, lived unceasingly with his wife in the house or during going for a walk, felt and indescribable fear, always hesitating, greatly depressed, wished to make an end of his life. Required immediate action, because the danger of suicide was imminent, the patient ought to have been constantly watched. Amelioration began after a dose of Calcarea Carb 200, and Tuberculinum 200 cured the patient with Kali carb 30, Pulsatilla 30, Avena sativa 3x.
ON THE BORDERLAND OF INSANITY: A young woman, blonde and thin of dry muscular fibres, intelligent and sensitive, suffered from not having any children, because the husband had not the desire for it, After a depression caused by overwork and repeated cares began the mania. Complete insomnia, exaltation, leucorrhoea, continual talking, access of jealousy etc. Dr. Morlaas advised to put the patient in a health home. The family preferred to keep her in the family. Cure began in there weeks after a course of Canabica Indica 6 and Hyoscyamus 6 alternated every two hours. Afterwards the patient has given birth to a girl and is doing as goods as possible.
In this maniacal states we should give Lachesis in high potency.
I have seen several aggravations with this medicine; patient becomes more agitated and still more sensitive.
IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IN THESE CASES THERE EXISTS AT THE BASIS TUBERCULINISM ASSOCIATED WITH A MENTAL DISORDER. Prof. Pages insists on the equilibrium of physical and mental state. One may have seen for example some tuberculous persons becoming psychasthenic when their pulmonary lesions are cured.
Morlaas and Allendy also insist on these metastasis. “By a therapeutic of drainage and derivation bringing back the menstrual flow one obtains some unexpected cures of some mental states wrongly declared incurable.
A CASE OF DELIRIUM TREMENS. A French subjects, partly of English origin of Anglo-Saxon type had an invincible inclination to alcoholic drinks (A Nebel has shown that alcoholism is due to tuberculism and responsible for desire for meat in an alcoholic person). This patient had an extreme and violent attack of delirium tremens which I. with my friend Leon Renard have treated. Cure began rapidly with Gelsemium (tremblings), Cimicifuga (spasms), Stramonium (violent delirium).
(Here the readers should one note the peculiar method of prescribing medicines by the French homoeopaths. At a time they prescribe a series of medicines and a administer a number of medicines during twenty-four hours. I do not yet understand why they do this. I have tried this method and to my wonder I have got unquestionable good results. This is perhaps the method of prescribing “Simile” before the “Simillimum” – Tr.).
Drainage with Spt. Quercus Glandium 1x and Nux vomica 30. For preventive treatment Apocynum canabinum O 10 drops every morning to remove the liking for alcohol.
MANY CASES OF DELIRIUM. Acute cases of delirium may often be cured with well conducted homoeopathic treatment.
Stramonium. In furious delirium, of persecutors and persecuted.
Belladonna. In delirium of diseases caused by fever, intention to tear clothings, to bite, to run out of the bed.
Hyoscyamus. In delirium of sexual order, jealousy.
Baptisia. Typhoid state. Thinks to have been cut into pieces. The Materia Medica is rich with practical informations on this subject. We have just given some examples.
Bernoville was a major lecturer in homeopathy, and he was active in Liga Medicorum Homeopathica Internationalis, and a founder of the le Syndicat national des médecins homœopathes français in 1932, and a member of the French Society of Homeopathy, and the Society of Homeopathy in the Rhone.
Fortier-Bernoville wrote several books, including Une etude sur Phosphorus (1930), L'Homoeopathie en Medecine Infantile (1931), his best known Comment guerir par l'Homoeopathie (1929, 1937), and an interesting work on iridology, Introduction a l'etude de l'Iridologie (1932).
With Louis-Alcime Rousseau, he wrote several booklets, including Diseases of Respiratory and Digestive Systems of Children, Diabetes Mellitus, Chronic Rheumatism, treatment of hay fever (1929), The importance of chemistry and toxicology in the indications of Phosphorus (1931), and Homeopathic Medicine for Children (1931). He also wrote several short pamphlets, including What We Must Not Do in Homoeopathy, which discusses the logistics of drainage and how to avoid aggravations.
He was an opponent of Kentian homeopathy and a proponent of drainage and artificial phylectenular autotherapy as well.