MINDING THE MIND IN THE CLINIC

UNDERSTANDING MIND OF THE CHILDREN: PULSATILLA

By DR ASHOK MOHANTY

Generally, in clinic, children hardly express their suffering for which they are brought and the parents explain them.

Timidity is the main factor for which they hesitate to explain their problem. Children need time, space and affection to open up. It is the ability of the physician to become close to the child as soon as possible by becoming friendly with him.

Another common factor which creates a fear factor in the mind of the child is the fear of injection. This is because of vaccination schedule in the country. The child is exposed to this threat or pain since birth so he always associates injection with all doctors. So we homoeopath should become friendly with him by showing sweet globules, rather we should give some globules to taste so that his fear vanishes and he feels at ease that there is no injection available with this doctor.

To understand the mental state of children is very easy if you don’t stay prejudiced about small details of the parent’s complaints. Observe the child’s behavior and gesture in the clinic and then link the complaints of the parent, this may guide you to the right remedy.

Let me explain you a case, so that it will be easy to understand the mental state of the child:

A boy, 7 years old, was brought to me by his father for enuresis, acute cold and involuntary passing of stool at the school.

Boy’s father: “He had been passing urine at night on the bed since last one year. We take all precautions like waking up twice in the night to pass urine, not allowing him to drink liquids after 8 PM but without fail he passes urine every night. We are really embarrassed as we cannot visit any of our guests and stay there at night because of this boy. Sometimes, I admonish him in the morning but nothing good happens. In the school before someday he told his class teacher to go to washroom as he had urgent urge for stool but she didn’t allow. Then he passed stool in his pant. After that incident everyday he dirties his pant and come home. When we ask why he doesn’t ask his teacher to allow him to go to washroom he replies that he controls the urge as the madam will not allow and the stool passes involuntarily. Even we told his madam to allow him. She agreed, but he hesitates to ask for stool and tries to control and ultimately the stool is passed involuntarily.”

I looked towards the boy; he was sitting on the chair very calmly, looking downward. In spite of repeated asking to tell something about him, he didn’t reply to may query. Tears rolled from his eyes and he looked into my face.

Dr: “Why don’t you ask your class teacher madam about your natural call?”

Boy: “She is not so good.” (oks bruh vPNh ughaA)

Further he didn’t reply to any of my queries.

His father added, “He is mama’s boy. He always wants to stay with her. I become bit angry sometime and admonish him when he doesn’t do things in a right way. That may be the reason he stays with his mother always. But he loves when I take him out for shopping or dining out. He always says to change the section in the school as he does not like the class teacher madam, but it is not possible at the middle of the session.”

In this case, you have to associate the symptoms of the child with parent’s explanation.

The child is very timid and generally hesitates to talk to new persons. The timidity increases further if the child is admonished for any of his mistakes. He then totally stops communicating. But because of fear he may reply you the bare minimum may be through gesture. At home also he is close to Mummy as she understands him and his father always reacts angrily for pretty mistakes.

A dose of Pulsatilla 30 cured the case in a month-time. The child stopped passing urine in the bed and never dirties his pant at school with involuntary stool. Now he asks madam to go to washroom and stopped telling to change the section.

The main feeling of the child in this case is, “HANDLE ME WITH CARE”.

The child is very-very soft and always needs that everybody should behave with him lovingly. Any rude behavior from anybody makes him timid and withdraws him from the person. He feels her madam to talk to him affectionately and not rudely as she didn’t allow him to go to washroom. He does not stay with his father much because he behaves angrily. At the same time he is a mama’s boy because she never tells anything rude to him and always showers affection & love to him.

We have a rubric in Pulsatilla “CARRIED - desire to be carried - caressed; and”. The meaning of this rubric is “handle me with care and love”. Whenever somebody behaves rudely with Pulsatilla then he becomes very timid & closes himself. He then communicates with them bare minimum. (ANSWERING - monosyllables; in) Monosyllables mean expressing the feeling in one or two or minimum-most words. Even sometimes they become so timid that they just communicate by nodding the head. (ANSWERING - nodding; by)

Let me tell you another case of fever which was prolonging for a period over one year. The child was four years old. Once it was detected as typhoid fever and he was given treatment for the same several times. But the fever used to recur every two months.

The child used to be totally normal till 102⁰F, playing and doing day to day activities but when the temperature rises beyond that he used to lie dull in the bed as if there is no energy left in his body and want his mother or father to be at his bed side, softly touching his body. Sometimes he used to sleep in similar state. After giving antipyretic when the temperature recedes then again he starts playing.

A dose of Pulsatilla 30 cured the child and the fever never recurred.

We have a rubric “Torpor” which means lifelessness. In this the person feels that the disease has drained away all his energy and he cannot even move his limbs, which force him to lie down on the bed.

The other rubric is “Clinging to mother” ( Complete Repertory) which means during the sickness the person will need motherly affection and will ask somebody who is very close i.e. like mother to be near him so that he can adapt to the state of disease and will come out of torpor to become healthy.

These two rubrics guided me to prescribe Pulsatilla.

In a nutshell, Pulsatilla child is very-very lovely, always showers affection on others even to the extent of physically caressing & kissing. (AFFECTIONATE - kisses and caresses children) She feels that everybody should reciprocate the same and love her & caress her equally. (CARRIED - desire to be carried - caressed; and) She becomes upset if does not get that reciprocation. But she does not behave rudely with others. She will just sit in one place and weeps in such a manner where other person can observe him. The motive is that she needs attention & love that time to come out of this situation. (CONSOLATION - amel.) A little love, affection and caressing showered on her, makes her lively and she is again full of love and affection, playing with other children. She will avoid to be with people who behave rudely because she has a desire to be carried slowly and smoothly.( CARRIED - desire to be carried – slowly).