Introductory Remarks.
The Hahnemannian anatomical scheme is still the best method to record the symptoms of a proving. From this raw material evolves gradually, though addition of clinical symptoms and observations, the drug picture. However, also in this second stage the drug picture remains a more or less unrelated accumulation of facts.
The aim of a future materia medica should be to conform with the principle of unity which underlies Homoeopathy, by adding to the tenets of the single remedy, as a therapeutic unity, and the single dosage in prescribing, the presentation of a remedy as an an integrated entity. In such a presentation all facts are organically interrelated, conforming with the actual unity of the mineral or plant from which the remedy is derived and the unity of the individual to which it is applied.
For an attempt in this direction of drug presentation we choose one of the best known polychrests, Bryonia alba, to severe as an example.
Bryonia is not only one of the most thoroughly proved and reproved remedies of our materia medica, but also one of the most often used polychrests. While attempting to explain from the well-known symptomatology and from what we know about the plant the reason for its extraordinary importance, we shall try to gain a deeper insight into the inner life force of the white Bryony.
Each organism, whether human, animal or plant, has its characteristic rhythm and energy of action; the same holds true for pathological processes. Bryonia symptoms develop gradually and get worse steadily with a certain energy and persistency of action. Some days ahead of he actual outbreak of disease, prodromal symptoms are felt. In the course of the disease the patient feels at first worse in the morning, but as the disease progresses the patient develops a gradual aggravation of his complaints until the daily peak is reached late in the evening. The symptoms never change quickly but proceed slowly from organ to organ, from one part of the body to another. The principal organ in which the pathological process settles is reached gradually.
Aggravation from any movement and dryness of the mucous membranes are key symptoms of the remedy. Consequently. rest and everything which prevents movements, such as pressure, lying on the painful side, have an ameliorating effect. The Bryonia patient is worse in the morning. He is worse from eating, and since eating means chewing, swallowing, movements of the digestive tract, this modality also my be an expression of the all-pervading grand characteristic, “worse from any motion”.
The general aggravation from external heat is explainable by its drying effect on the mucous membranes; besides, suppression of perspiration, when overheated, brings on many Bryonia symptoms. Hence the indication,. “complaints from being suddenly chilled when overheated”.
The dryness of the mucous membranes evokes the desire for large quantities of water, which can be taken only at great intervals, probably because of the decreased absorptive function of the dried-up mucous membranes.
The main field of action of Bryonia is logically the anatomical system which has to do with motion. Bryonia attacks selectively the mechanism which throughout the body suspends the organs and permits them at the same time to move, to glide inside their walls and against each other-the system of double sheaths, all built basically on the same anatomical pattern, such as meninges, pleura, peritoneum, synovia and bursae, tendon-and nerve-sheaths and the interstitial connective tissue. The toxicological effect of Bryonia leads through inflammation of these tissues to prevention of motion, ending in the attachment of the organs to their surrounding tissues through the formation of adhesions.
Irritation and inflammation of the serosa are usually marked by sharp, stabbing pains, which are the characteristic expression of pain of the Bryonia case.
The Pathological process related to Bryonia is fibrinous inflammation. Here again we perceive the basic character of the drug, fibrinous inflammation being a kind of “dry” inflammation with little serum exudation, leading to deposits of fibrin impeding motion and finally to adhesions which abolish motion altogether.
Prevention of movement, of the free flow of secretions and discharges underlies likewise the etiological factors which are known to provoke the mentioned pathological conditions: checking of perspiration, of the menstrual flow, of milk-secretion, of exanthemata.
Anger and its suppression are known as etiological factors of syndromes calling for Bryonia. Suppressed resentment and hostility are now considered as f etiological importance in rheumatoid arthritis which often exhibits the typical Bryonia symptoms. The effect of anger and its repression, preventing bile flow, are well known. Bryonia has produced in animals bile stasis with subsequent degeneration of liver cells. Also, in the emotional sphere, a process of inhibition of the free flow, of the moving of emotions is indicative of the action of Bryonia.
If, provoked by any of the etiological factors mentioned above, an individual develops a pathological condition as described before in one part or the other of the general field of the Bryonia action, this individual will exhibit a characteristic behavior. The patient will more or less strenuously avoid motions of the affected part and, the more he is affected as a whole, any kind of motion. He holds on everywhere to secure a safe position, to find security from pain.
This general trend unfolds identically in the mental sphere. The patients does not want to be moved mentally either, when in distress. He resents being spoken to, and being obliged to answer; he wants to be left undisturbed; visitors are unwelcome. He is disinclined to do things; thinking becomes an effort, and in fevers a sluggish state of mind develops, slowing down and inhibiting the movement of thoughts.
The need of be constantly on the watch not to move or to be moved brings about an irritable disposition. Actual disturbance provokes angry reactions. The patients will resist and resent any attempt to change the position of rest which he seeks physically and mentally and which he will try to secure instinctively by all means.
It is the sphere of the subconscious which in attitudes, dreams and delirious states, repeating the basic pattern, reveals the clue to the various aspects of the Bryonia picture. We find here proving symptoms and clinically confirmed symptoms such as “Needless anxiety,” “Apprehension about the future,” “Great sense of insecurity with mental depression and apprehension of future,” “Fear of poverty,” “Dreams all night vividly of anxious and careful attention to his business.”
“In his dreams he is occupied with household affairs,” “Delirious chattering of business to be done,” “Irrational talk of his business,” “Dream of being pursued and wanting to escape,” “Imagines in the delirium that strangers are around, and wants to go home.” In the picture language of the subconscious, we find here the fundamental character of Bryonia revealed : the instinctive search for security.
When the person in the dream wants to escape, he seeks security; when he worries about the future and whether he will be able to make a living, he strives for security. Business and household affairs occupy the subconscious in dreams and delirium as expression of the ever-present anxious urge to secure the economic position, to secure stability; if the person in his, delirium wants to go home, the home which means shelter, protection, then it is again another expression of this instinctive search for security.
Everywhere in physical, mental, subconscious symptoms, the Bryonia personality exhibits the same basic pattern: it looks for a safe position, it wants to hold on to something, it strives persistently for a state of stability and rest, opposing any change of position, holding on to the painful part of the body, or to the position in bed, or the position in business, always concerned with the one thing which underlies all the various symptomatic expression of Bryonia: the search for security.
The typical Bryonia personality as we meet it in daily life is not the artist or scientist or philosopher, the explorer of beauty and the unknown, who disregards the material basis of his existence to reach out into lofty heights. It is the business man, the insurance man, the stock broker, the man without much imagination, but with much calculation, a “dry fellow,” sober, reliable, methodical, tenacious, weighing his steps, carefully driving into the ground stake after stake on which to fasten his web, concerned in everything he does with safety, stability, security, Whenever the safe basis is lacking, such a personality becomes irritable, angry, anxious, depressed, always on the lookout for something which promises a hold to provide stability and security.
Bryonia corresponds to a widespread, fundamental attitude, to be found in any profession or walk of life, which is particularly characteristic of the type that we may call the “economic man.” No wonder that it became one of the most frequently used polychrests of our materia medica.
