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LAMIACEAE ¦ PIPERACEAE
ANGELIKA BOLTE, JÖRG WICHMANN ¦
PIPER METHYSTICUM: PIPER NIGRUM: TEUCRIUM SCORODONIUM
SPECTRUM OF HOMEOPATHY
Describe that feeling of boredom.
Pfff (…), the feeling is actually that, how can you say, I get a bit
nervous. I feel such an urge to do something. If it's easy, I think
to myself: “I'm feeling bored right now, I'd like to sleep.” If it's
stronger, it makes me really nervous. Then, I don't know what
I should do. I can't just keep lying down. I have to start doing
something and I can rarely do it. It's just not possible. It's like
a block about doing anything.
More precisely?
It feels like an adrenalin kick on the rollercoaster but rather bad.
In what way bad?
Pfff ( …). So then, in fact, I'm pretty wired but I still have this
block about doing something. And both at the same time.
That's pretty confusing, and yes, I don't really know how I
should react, what I should do (…) pffff (…). So, how should
you say (…), it feels like a stressful, unpleasant situation, like
for example, if you've forgotten something totally important –
something like that.
How do you start doing something?
By, er, somehow finding something else to spur me on to do
something, like listening to music. So I prefer playing guitar, and
that sometimes also stimulates and inspires me to sit down by
myself and play a bit.
So it must come from outside?
Yeah, or someone needs to call me and says: “Let's meet up or
something,” and it works out too. When I've done something,
it's better afterwards and doesn't go straight back to like it
was. It's always like that, that I only get the motivation from
outside to do something.
Is there a reason why you got like this?
I can't think of anything.
How is it at school?
School has got relatively boring. Things used to be relatively new
and exciting but even then, I immediately forgot most things.
And then it just continued like that for a long time and I lost
interest. And then (…) pffff (…) my basic attitude was that I
couldn't be bothered anymore because I knew that I was bored
all day. Meanwhile, I've got used to it. But now there's also the
fact that I almost never do my homework. I don't even write
down what I have to do for the last few years because I know
that it's going to be boring when I'm at home. Usually, I'm a
pretty good pupil.
ANALYSIS
This is the main part of the casetaking. If we attempt an over-
view by classifying the information received according to the
patient's level of sensation, we see the following:
Factually (level 2), we find the state following glandular fever,
with frequent tonsillitis plus pressure in the throat, sleepiness,
only ameliorated by activity and distraction. At the level of feel-
ing (3), he shows a lack of motivation, only wanting to lie down
or sleep and feeling listless. At the mental level (4), there is not
much of homeopathic relevance. And at the fifth level, the
experience of the vital sensation, we have above all his “pffff”
vocalization gesture – this repeatedly recurs while he talks,
as an expression of boredom, listlessness, and heaviness. He
experiences his body as relaxed, sluggish, as if he were just
about to fall asleep. He is wired but he has a block about
doing anything.
Piperaceae:
the flowering plant family that reacts so sensitively
to boredom and that can only be extricated from this sensation
by external distraction and stimulus is the Piperaceae (details
below).
And what “miasm” are we dealing with here – in other words,
what is the dynamic of sensation in the complaints? The patient
says that he has got so used to his state that an impetus can
only come from outside, never from himself. He is doing badly
but his behavior remains the same; he does not even bother to
write down the instructions for his homework because he does
not want to get bored. This style of dealing with things is called
sycotic in the Sensation method, and the remedy assigned to
this miasm is Piper nigrum, a remedy that is relatively poorly
known in homeopathy. Without the search for the central vital
sensation, it would certainly not have come up. It has no obvious
connection to the symptoms of the case.
So, in this case, we are forced to rely on the experience of the
Sensation method since the local and general symptoms are too
non-specific to justify a well-founded prescription. Some people
might say we have here a typical “lazy” youth. Fortunately,
however, the boy, in his state of boredom and listlessness, was
able to express his experience so succinctly that we could find
an appropriate remedy for him.
Prescription:
Piper nigrum
Follow-up:
just two weeks later, at the next consultation, our
patient says he once again feels like doing things. He even no
longer finds homework boring. His energy is good, he feels
more alert, and his concentration is better. Other people say
he is happier and more forthcoming. He is doing sports again
and has more fun playing the guitar. He has not noticed the
pressure in his throat anymore. Whereas he used to just push
his problems aside without changing anything, now he is con-
sidering what to do and he is searching for a solution. He main-
tained this improvement.
Case 2: twenty-year-old young man, lack of drive,
dizziness, concentration problems, he says:
“I'm done in!”
Casetaking:
Florian is twenty and relatively healthy. He comes
due to lack of drive, dizziness, and concentration problems.
His case resembles the first case in many respects so that we
have decided not to reproduce the entire case here but only the
chief sensations, concentrating on the miasm. At the factual