Understanding Graphites

Dr. Claudio C. Araujo M.D., F.F.Hom. (Lon.) et al.

Two strong and different approaches can lead us to the Graphites patient. 

There is someone (probably the most common subject) that comes to our praxis with the well known symptoms of the remedy, the common features described in the Materia Medica:

Apprehensive, afraid, unable to work, miserable and unhappy.

His anxiety will turn him into someone unable to sit, to relax and is also associated with physical symptoms:

Anxiety, with headache, vertigo, and ill-humor,

Anxiety, so that she cannot sit, with nausea and sweat,

Constant anxiety at night, so that he had no rest in bed; he constantly talked in sleep (twelfth hour),

The symptoms also point out to some probable reasons of his anxieties: something terrible, some misfortune had happened or is about to happen.

Great anxiety, in the evening, as if some misfortune had happened, with heat of the face and coldness of hands and feet, 

Anxious dreams, from which she awakes with anxiety or fright, 

He is afraid, expecting the most troublesome situations. But his fears are combined with two other strong aspects of Graphites: his apprehensions and his hesitations.

Frightful dreams (fifth day), 

Anxious, frightful dreams 

Great agitation at night; anxious, frightful dreams. 

Extreme apprehensiveness, so that she did not know how to overcome it. 

It frequently seemed to him as though his end was near, or the greatest misfortunes were impending. 

apprehensiveness, with inclination to weep, in frequent attacks,

Extreme apprehensiveness, so that she did not know how to overcome it, disappearing after weeping, 

Extreme hesitation; she is unable to make up her mind about anything, 

Slowness of purpose and thought, 

She was usually very quick to resolve, but soon after taking was very slow of thought and resolution,

Extreme hesitation; she is unable to make up her mind about anything; timidity.

His anxiety is probably due to a sensation of an impending misfortune but he can’t ascertain any form of solution due to his fears and hesitation.

If we could resume the first steps to the comprehension of Graphites, we should do in this sequence:

He is very anxious and apprehensive, due to a sensation of a coming misfortune. His fears and his hesitations in some way are hold him back impeding him to take any action.

It frequently seemed to him as though his end were near, or the greatest misfortunes were impending,  

We can number a few of misfortunes described in the provings:

Dreams: vivid; anxious; horrible; vexations; about fatal accidents. 

Frightful dreams, with danger from water,  

Dream of fire,  

He awoke at 2 A.M. with restless mood; everything that could injure him happened, and made him anxious, so that frequently he did not know where he should turn, for over seven nights (after twelve hours),  

At night, after lying down, thoughts full of care, from which she could not free herself, and which were so distressing and anxious that the blood became excited, and she could not sleep the whole night (fifth day), 

Grief about the slightest occurrences, even to despair,

Full of fear in the mornings. 

Drowning, fires, death, accidents, they are all related to his physical condition. 

There is not almost a single symptom about his relationship with his loved ones, his family or his friends. How Graphites feels when he is in company, or when he is not? It’s not described in the proving. His only relation towards the other human beings is through sex. Following Kent’s description and through Graphites sexual symptoms we can see a large amount of his passions and desires towards the opposite sex. His aversions and difficulties are related to sexual exhaustion and to masturbation.

Kent: Violent sexual excitement and nightly emissions; the excitement is so strong that ejaculation comes instantly after intromission. The opposite state is also found where there is aversion to coition and erections are wanting. It is a most useful remedy for impotency following secret vice and sexual excesses. Emissions with feeble erections.

Uncontrollable sexual excitement; violent erections. 

Voluptuous irritability of genitals. 

Tension and lascivious feeling in genitals. 

Emissions with amorous dreams. 

Revival of the sexual desire and fantasies,  

 Extremely lascivious thoughts, which tormented him so that he feared he would be insane, with restless running about; with heaviness in the perineum and tensive pain in the penis, without erections,  

Voluptuous dreams (third day), 

Sexual weakness, consisting of lively desire with incomplete erection and too rapid or too early discharge of semen, such as sometimes follows the habit of masturbation, acquired in boyhood and abandoned early. 

Impotence, with dislike to coition. 

Graphites will never be a good worker. He just simple can’t. For some reasons he is exhausted, confused, there is an incapacity for work.

Dread of work. 

Fidgety while sitting at work. 

Scientific labor fatigues him. 

 Uneasiness and unsteadiness; he had no thought for his work, no inclination for anything; relief after walking in the open air, 

Incapable of mental work, after the midday nap, lasting four hours,

Beclouded mind, 

Weakness in head, can scarcely think. 

Makes mistakes in talking and writing, 

But why he is so sad? Why does he want so much to die? 

We now know that he is afraid, apprehensive and hesitant. But what we should do with his despair? From where does it come from? Only from his fears and apprehensions?

Sadness, with thoughts of nothing but death (eleventh day), 

Feels miserable, unhappy.

Grief about slightest occurrences, even to despair. 

Desperate state of mind. θ Ophthalmia after syphilis.

Gloomy mood (fourth day), 

Oppression, with anxiety, and a very unpleasant sensation in the stomach, 

He would much rather be alone; every disturbance irritates him, 

Extremely fretful; everything angers and offends him,

Grief about the slightest occurrences, even to despair, 

Hypochondriac uneasiness, discouragement, anxious sweat, loss of sleep, 

Dreams full of trouble, 

Our hypothesis is that Graphites came to reality with a perversion of senses. Of his loves and affections, of his whole understanding of the world. All good things in life that we, human beings, are all fond of, are disgusting for this remedy.

Smell abnormally acute; she cannot tolerate flowers.

Sweet things are disgusting and nauseous.

She was obliged to weep at music 

Sad, despondent; she must weep; music makes her weep. 

Sad, despondent; she was obliged to weep, 

Is anything in our world so much beloved as music? Music belongs in our daily life, is related to our good memories, our happy moments. Music makes us happy. We love classical and pop music and we all have our favorite artists and composers. But, for Graphites, music is unbearable. “She is obliged to weep; music makes her weep”.

Altogether with music, what is a flower to all of us? A flower scent and its colors? And finally, at the end of our meals, sweets are the most expected part!

When a couple is celebrating their marriage, music, flowers and sweets are greatly expected!

There may no strong affections in Graphites not a strong relationship with the others. But we find careful parents afraid that something might happen with their children and it seems that they have a strong affection for then, but it might only a strong concern for the safety of their kin.

He would much rather be alone; every disturbance irritates him,.

Impudent, teasing, laughs at reprimands. θ Cough after pertussis. 

Trapped by his senses, Graphites cannot enjoy the most simplest things of life: company of friends, love, music, sweets, perfumes and probably everything else that comes through his senses and were supposed to give him that common daily joy. 

So now we can presume why he is in that state of mind - why he is so miserable and unhappy.

 

Groups in Graphites

Symptoms from Hahnemann, Allen, Hering and Kent

Dr. Claudio C. Araujo M.D., F.F.Hom. (Lon.)

Humor

 Mood in the morning lively, in the evening depressed, [1]. 

Very much inclined to grieve and cry in the evening, whilst in the forenoon she had laughed about every trifle, contrary to her habit, [1]. 

Anxiety

Anxiety, with headache, vertigo, and ill-humor, [1]. 

Anxiety and hastiness (precipitação) drive him about like an evil-doer, [1].

Anxiety, so that she cannot sit, with nausea and sweat, [1]. 

Constant anxiety at night, so that he had no rest in bed; he constantly talked in sleep (twelfth hour), [1]

Great anxiety, so that she trembled all over for some minutes, [1]. 

Great anxiety, in the evening, as if some misfortune had happened, with heat of the face and coldness of hands and feet, [1]. 

Anxious dreams, from which she awakes with anxiety or fright, [4]. 

Anxious dreams, so that on waking she was quite beside herself, [1].

 Very vivid, anxious dreams, [1]. 

Anxious dreams, which took away her breath; she cried out, and lay in perspiration, 

Sadness

Sadness, with thoughts of nothing but death.

Sadness, with thoughts of nothing but death (eleventh day), [1]. 

Feels miserable, unhappy.

Grief about slightest occurrences, even to despair. 

Desperate state of mind. θ Ophthalmia after syphilis.

Gloomy mood (fourth day), [1]. 

Dejected, sad mood (after seventy-two hours), [1]. 

 Dejected, with great heaviness of the feet, [1]. 

Completely depressed in mind, together with great anxiety, lasting until lying down in the evening, [1]. 

Oppression, [1].

Oppression, with anxiety, and a very unpleasant sensation in the stomach, [1]. 

Weeping

He was obliged to weep, without cause, in the evening, [1]. 

 She was obliged to weep at music, [1]. 

Sad, despondent; she must weep; music makes her weep. 

Sad, despondent; she was obliged to weep, [1]. 

Irritability, fretfulness


Irritability. θ Gastrodynia. 

Fretful; ill-humored; easily vexed; irritable. 

Irritable and uneasy, [1]. 

Irritable, violent, in the morning; hypochondriac in the afternoon, [1]. 

She is very easily angered, but it just as easily passes out of her mind, [1]. 

Fretful, [1]. 

Fretful and hypochondriac, without special cause, [1]. 

Extremely fretful; everything angers and offends him, [1]. 

Peevish (after three hours), [1]. 

Very peevish and wrathful, [1]. 

Peevish dreams, [1]. 

Peevish dreams, with moaning and groaning in sleep, [1]. 

Peevish, anxious dreams, [1]. 

 

Very easily excited; hot hands even from speaking. 

Very easily excited; hot hands even from speaking, [1]. 

 

With Himself/Herself

Hesitation

Extreme hesitation; she is unable to make up her mind about anything, [1].

Slowness of purpose and thought, [1]. 

She was usually very quick to resolve, but soon after taking was very slow of thought and resolution, [1]. 

Extreme hesitation; she is unable to make up her mind about anything; timidity.

Apprehensiveness

Extreme apprehensiveness, so that she did not know how to overcome it. 

It frequently seemed to him as though his end was near, or the greatest misfortunes were impending. 

Apprehensiveness, with inclination to weep, in frequent attacks, [4]. 

Extreme apprehensiveness, so that she did not know how to overcome it, disappearing after weeping, [4]. 

Fear

Full of fear in the mornings. 

Solicitude concerning spiritual welfare. 

Fearfulness, [1]. 

Frightful dreams (fifth day), [1].

Anxious, frightful dreams, [1]. 

Great agitation at night; anxious, frightful dreams. 

Timid (after six hours), [1].

Grief

Ailments from grief (or fright).

Grief about the slightest occurrences, even to despair, [1]. 

Misfortune

At night, after lying down, thoughts full of care, from which she could not free herself, and which were so distressing and anxious that the blood became excited, and she could not sleep the whole night (fifth day), [1]. 

He awoke at 2 A.M. with restless mood; everything that could injure him happened, and made him anxious, so that frequently he did not know where he should turn, for over seven nights (after twelve hours), [1]. 

Hypochondriac uneasiness, discouragement, anxious sweat, loss of sleep, [1]. 

It frequently seemed to him as though his end were near, or the greatest misfortunes were impending, [1]. 

At night she was obliged to think of all sorts of things, on account of which she slept very little, [1]. 

At night a fixed idea took possession of him, so that he could not sleep before midnight, [1]. 

Dreams full of trouble, [1]. 

Dreams of unpleasant things which had occurred during the day, on account of which she awoke with anxiety, [1]. 

Fanciful raving at night, [1].

With the Others

Dreams of dead people (second night), [1];

He would much rather be alone; every disturbance irritates him, [1]. 

Impudent, teasing, laughs at reprimands. θ Cough after pertussis. 

 

With the Environment

SMELL AND NOSE: Smell abnormally acute; she cannot tolerate flowers.

STOMACH: Sweet things are disgusting and nauseous.

Dreams: vivid; anxious; horrible; vexations; about fatal accidents. 

Anxious dream, of numberless dogs and cats, with loud talking (twenty-second day), [6].

Frightful dreams, with danger from water, [4]. 

Dream of fire, [1]. 

Numerous dreams, with distorted images. 

Numerous dreams, with distorted images, in relation to everything which had 

happened to her during the last two days, [1]. 

Work

Dread of work. 

Fidgety while sitting at work. 

Scientific labor fatigues him. 

Uneasiness and unsteadiness; he had no thought for his work, no inclination for anything; relief after walking in the open air, [1]. 

Incapable of mental work, after the midday nap, lasting four hours, [1]. 

Beclouded mind, [1]. 

Male Sexuality

Kent: Violent sexual excitement and nightly emissions; the excitement is so strong that ejaculation comes instantly after intromission. The opposite state is also found where there is aversion to coition and erections are wanting. It is a most useful remedy for impotency following secret vice and sexual excesses. Emissions with feeble erections.

Uncontrollable sexual excitement; violent erections. 

Voluptuous irritability of genitals. 

Tension and lascivious feeling in genitals. 

Emissions with amorous dreams. 

Revival of the sexual desire and fantasies, [1]. 

Extremely lascivious thoughts, which tormented him so that he feared he would be insane, with restless running about; with heaviness in the perineum and tensive pain in the penis, without erections, [1]. 

Voluptuous dreams (third day), [4]. 

Sexual weakness, consisting of lively desire with incomplete erection and too rapid or too early discharge of semen, such as sometimes follows the habit of masturbation, acquired in boyhood and abandoned early. 

Impotence, with dislike to coition. 

Want of proper sensation during coition. 

His thoughts about coition were quite cold, [1]. 

Very indifferent to coition, with little inclination thereto, [1]. 

All desire for coition gradually left him, [1]

Female Sexuality

Great aversion to coitus.

After mental trouble during menstruation suffered for five years from dysmenorrhœa. 

Childhood

Weeping in a child, with fretfulness, [2]. 

Intellectual

Forgetfulness; dim recollection of recent events. 

Weakness in head, can scarcely think. 

Slow in thought; absent minded. 

Thoughts of many things at night prevent sleep. 

Makes mistakes in talking and writing, [1]. 

Absentminded, [1].

Constant forgetfulness, [1]. 

Extreme forgetfulness (after eight days), [5]. 

Only obscure recollection of the most recent events, [1]. 

Lethargy, [1].

Dreams

Great sleepiness by day, goes to sleep early in evening, but during night there is wakefulness, tossing about, heat and anxiety; dreams anxious and terrifying; at last sinks into a profound and dull morning sleep. 

Sleep disturbed by dreams. 

She awoke about 3 A.M.; could not fall asleep again for two hours and awoke at 7, dizzy and tired, [1]. 

Frequent starting up in sleep, [4]. 

Anxious talking in sleep, [1]. 

Constant dreamy nights, [4]. 

Vivid dream, remembered for a long time, [1]. 

Very vivid dreams, [1]. 

Sleep disturbed by dreams, [1] 

Dreams fatiguing the head, [1]. 

Dreams full of trouble, [1]. 

Dreams of unpleasant things which had occurred during the day, on account of which she awoke with anxiety, [1]. 

Anxious dreams, from which she awakes with anxiety or fright, [4]. 

Anxious dreams, so that on waking she was quite beside herself, [1].

 Very vivid, anxious dreams, [1]. 

Anxious dreams, which took away her breath; she cried out, and lay in perspiration, 

nxious dream, of numberless dogs and cats, with loud talking (twenty-second day), 

Anxious dreams of lethargy and loss of consciousness; afterwards very difficult waking from deep sleep, with stiffness of the cervical muscles, [1]. 

Peevish dreams, [1]. 

Peevish dreams, with moaning and groaning in sleep, [1]. 

Peevish, anxious dreams, [1]. 

Frightful dreams (fifth day), [1].

Anxious, frightful dreams, [1].