Understanding Ferrum met.

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

What has the Ferrum met. patient spotted out from reality.   Why is he suffering? Why he became an irritated, morose and ill-humored person? Why is he now so impatient, so anxious, sad to the point of become indifferent to the others?

There are two groups of symptoms ever present in our Ferrum cases or at least remembered as key notes of this remedy: His dreams with war and with his old school mates, his friends and deceased acquaintances.

Being and engaged in a war (and that he fell into the water) where symptoms always described and evaluated as if the Ferrum patient was someone inclined to fight, to be in a war, authoritative and dogmatic.

But on a close look this dream is stating mostly a condition of being endangered and afraid, from being engaged in a war and being drowned. There is not a single mention of his desire or his inclination to fight, on the contrary.

Dreams he is in battle, that he has fallen into the water, etc.

Weariness and drowsiness in daytime, with light sleep at night, full of dreams, attended with seminal emissions; vivid dreams of being engaged in war, or that he fell into water

Someone that sees before his eyes images of a war will necessarily need some weapons to protect oneself. The Ferrum patient might mention weapons - like a sword, or that he´s learning to fight, being a armory collector, a reader of war magazines – he is in a war and needs to protect himself and his fellow men

We must connect his old friends and deceased acquaintances from his past with his actual living. These are images from his past represented in the figurative sense through the image of his friends and relatives. Ferrum is dreaming of his past.

Was his past different from his present days?

Is he dreaming of his past but now he is engaged into a war?

Did not sleep well, as sleep was much disturbed by dreams of old friends,

Unpleasant dreams during the whole night of friends and relative deceased twenty-five years since,

Rested well, but dreamed a great deal of meeting with old schoolmates, of student life, etc., 

Could we combine those two groups of symptoms, if he feels as his life was much better before than it is now? So, what has been lost?

Let’s return to the point we started, to the point when Ferrum met. brought to this existence a sober and serious mind and an equable attitude towards the others.

So now he is facing horror and disappointment when he investigates society, its mode of living, its behavior, even its war and prejudices.

But there are a group of symptoms that could lead us near to the understanding of this patient, being the first one is his moral and ethical position regarding himself and with his living with the other human beings.

Feels very sober and uncomfortable, but not gloomy. 

Temper more equable all through the proving,

"My surroundings seem very large and capacious, and I am inclined to attribute great importance to trifles, and am generally in an unusually earnest mood, without external cause,"

In the evening became exceedingly lively,  

Based on that group of symptoms, it seems that the Ferrum met. patient must be someone with a balanced way of life. Soberness, earnest mood, serious and equable. His way to judge, evaluate and act towards life will be regarded by everyone around him as from someone that can be trusted, respected, someone with a sober way to deal with himself and with the others.

But, as every other remedy, he is suffering. He is sad, depressed, strongly irritated.

He is sensitive even to the noise of cracking paper.

Kent: The least noise, like the crackling of paper, sets the patient wild. It brings on nervous excitement and restlessness; she must get up and move.

Irritability; little noises, such as crackling of a newspaper, drive him to despair.

His sufferings will be kept all to himself. With that way of seen things, it could not be different. Ferrum will suffer alone, keeping all his sufferings to himself.

But as he keeps his sufferings all bottled up, Ferrum needs company, he feels better when in company.

 She never complained or wept and was always plunged in deep melancholy when no one was about her,

Mind in highest degree oppressed; despondent; great solicitude about those belonging to him, with constant thoughts of death. θ Aphonia.

Then comes our question: Why is he suffering? Why he became an irritated, morose and ill-humored person? Why is he now so impatient, so anxious, sad to the point of become indifferent to the others?

There are two groups of symptoms ever present in our Ferrum cases or at least remembered as key notes of this remedy: His dreams with war and with his old school mates, his friends and deceased acquaintances.

Being and engaged in a war (and that he fell into the water) where symptoms always described and evaluated as if the Ferrum patient was someone inclined to fight, to be in a war, authoritative and dogmatic.

But on a closed look this dream is stating mostly a condition of being endangered and afraid from being engaged in a war and being drowned. There is not a single mention of his desire or his inclination to fight, on the contrary.

Dreams he is in battle, that he has fallen into the water, etc.,

Weariness and drowsiness in daytime, with light sleep at night, full of dreams, attended with seminal emissions; vivid dreams of being engaged in war, or that he fell into water.

There´s this rubric in Synthesis repertory: Mind, Power, sensation of.

Ferrum has this sensation, and we can assume that it might come from his weaponry – iron instruments like a gun or a sword – that he might use for battle. Assuming that he believes that is living in a war  needing to be stated in warrior ornaments and paraphernalia.

It is impossible to not connect his old friends and deceased acquaintances with his past. These are images from his past represented in the figurative sense through the image of his friends and relatives. Actually, Ferrum is dreaming of his past.

Was his past different from his present days?

Is he dreaming of his past but now he is engaged into a war?

Did not sleep well, as sleep was much disturbed by dreams of old friends,

Unpleasant dreams during the whole night of friends and relative deceased twenty-five years since,

Rested well, but dreamed a great deal of meeting with old schoolmates, of student life, etc., 

Could we combine those two groups of symptoms, assuming that he feels as his life was much better before than it is now? So, what has been lost?

Let’s return to the point we started, to the point when Ferrum met. brought to this existence a sober and serious mind and an equable attitude towards the others.

So now he is facing horror and disappointment when he looks into society, its mode of living, its behavior, even its war and prejudices.

Could he be missing his old days, his old friends and old beliefs, when life was fair, just and noble? Can he be now engaged in some kind of “war” against injustice, against prejudice, against corruption? Does he miss a dear loving person, left behind when Ferrum left home to fight a war?

As a reaction from his disappointments, can he become someone turned indifferent to society? Yes, that’s another possibility, it appears in the proving. That’s very frequent in the symptoms: the results of his disappointment with the human race, with society. He does not want to see anyone else, had become indifferent, ill-humored, averse to company, to his friends, to his family.

Constant desire for solitude; horror of conversation, noise, visits, and even the society of her cherished friends, 

Excited by the slightest opposition; everything irritated or depressed her; even her children's caresses increased her bad temper; she was often rude to those about her, because she hated to see or talk to them, and wanted them to leave her in solitude, which alone was pleasing to her,

Great indifference.

Ill-humor; disinclined for everything; indifferent even to subjects in which he usually took an active interest; joyfulness was impossible, 

Pettish, quarrelsome, disputative, easily excited, least contradiction angers.

Excited by slightest opposition; everything irritates or depresses her.

Is Ferrum metallicum our falling and deceased hero? The hero we got inside ourselves during childhood, when we learned about Justice, about Honesty, about Fairness.

As we are becoming grown-ups, we all assumed that the world is this crazy and scary place we live and we, as now grown-ups, must deal with this “new” found reality -moving on.

Our hypothesis is that Ferrum met. got himself stuck in these old beliefs and decided to carry on throughout life his honored flag and fight. Peace, Love, Honesty, Justice - all the good qualities and feelings every one of us believed someday long before during one´s life first years. But now he may be dying sad and lonely.

Is he keeping on his fighting taking it to some other places, other “battle fields”? 

Are the Ferrum met. patients the old hippies, vegetarians, old Marxists that kept their beliefs inside and will never renounce, never surrender?

Are they still using their weaponry to fight for Good?

Groups in Ferrum met.

Symptoms from Hahnemann. Hering, Allen and Kent

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

Humor

Kent: You may easily imagine something of the character of the mental symptoms, for they are like the physical. The mind is confused and the patient tearful. Depression of spirits; mental weariness and depression. The highest degree of depression and despondency. Anxiety from the slightest cause; irritability.

Excitement from the slightest opposition. 

In the evening became exceedingly lively, [12]. 

Lively in evening.

Alternated symptoms

Too gay one evening, sad and melancholy the next, [1]. 

Prone to weep or laugh immoderately; with a choking sensation in throat, as if swollen outside.

Anxiety

Anxiety, [7], [8]. 

Sleep disturbed by very vivid and anxious dreams (sixth day), [13]. 

Anxiety, as if something evil had happened to her, [1]. 

Anxiety at night, as if some evil had happened to her; she could not sleep; tossed about in bed, [1]. 

From slight cause, anxiety, with throbbing in pit of stomach, [1]. 

From slightest cause, anxiety, with throbbing in pit of stomach.

Ill humor

Ill-humor; disinclined for everything; indifferent even to subjects in which he usually took an active interest; joyfulness was impossible, [17]. 

The ill-humor appeared not only during the period of the greatest aggravation of the abdominal affection, but like that it was also worse soon after taking the drug; it, however, continued after the abdominal trouble disappeared, and increased in the last days of the proving when the abdomen was almost free; it even continued after stopping the drug, and gradually disappeared, [17]. 

Moroseness after menses, [12].

Gloomy feelings after menses, [12].

Irritability; little noises, such as crackling of a newspaper, drive him to despair.

Pettish, quarrelsome, disputative, easily excited, least contradiction angers.

Excited by slightest opposition; everything irritates or depresses her.

Vehement; quarrelsome; anxious.

Depression

(Depression of spirits, as from too loose bowels), [1]. 

Mental depression previous to menses, [12]. 

She never complained or wept, and was always plunged in deep melancholy when no one was about her, [22]. 

Depression of spirits; also after menses.

Mental depression, gloomy foreboding thoughts.

Mind in highest degree oppressed; despondent; great solicitude about those belonging to him, with constant thoughts of death. θ Aphonia.

With Oneself

Sober and equable

Feels very sober and uncomfortable, but not gloomy, [12]. 

Temper more equable all through the proving, [12]. 

Nervous, hysterical feeling; fear of apoplexy.

Violence, quarrelsomeness; insists that he is right (after four hours), [1].

Ailments from anger.

Anxiety as after committing a crime.

Haughtiness; proud, self-contented look.

With the Others

Aversion to company, indifferent

Constant desire for solitude; horror of conversation, noise, visits, and even the society of her cherished friends, [22]. 

Excited by the slightest opposition; everything irritated or depressed her; even her children's caresses increased her bad temper; she was often rude to those about her, because she hated to see or talk to them, and wanted them to leave her in solitude, which alone was pleasing to her, [22].

Great indifference.

Old friends

Did not sleep well, as sleep was much disturbed by dreams of old friends, [12]. 

Unpleasant dreams during the whole night of friends and relative deceased twenty-five ears since, [12]. 

 Rested well, but dreamed a great deal of meeting with old schoolmates, of student life, etc., [12].

With the Environment

Kent: The least noise, like the crackling of paper, sets the patient wild. It brings on nervous excitement and restlessness; she must get up and move.

My surroundings seem very large and capacious, and I am inclined to attribute great importance to trifles, and am generally in an unusually earnest mood, without external cause," [13].

Being at war

Dreams he is in battle, that he has fallen into the water, etc., [1].

Weariness and drowsiness in daytime, with light sleep at night, full of dreams, attended with seminal emissions; vivid dreams of being engaged in war, or that he fell into water.

Work

Not inclined to talk; disinclined to work, [12]. 

Not inclined to talk or study; nervous, restless.

My usual lively disposition changed without any cause; I became ill-humored, morose, and disinclined to every mental and physical labor (second day), [19]. [20.]

Male Sexuality

Erections of penis, [1]. 

Erections of penis by day, almost without cause, [1]. 

Nocturnal emissions, [1]. 

A seminal emission, [12]. 

A pollution, not followed by weakness, [12]. 

Erections night and day; nocturnal emissions; sterility; sexual desire increased.

Impotence.

Female Sexuality

Less dryness in vagina on commencing coitus, and more pleasure in it, [12]. 

Painfulness of the vagina during coition, [1]. 

Sexual desire lessened, sterility.

Intellectual

 Indisposition to think, and confusion of head, [1]. 

Very dull and heavy all day, [12]. 

The mind wandering and discontented, [12]. 

The memory was weakened, but the head was free from unpleasant sensations, [17]. 

Mind confused, cannot collect his thoughts.

Neurological

Stupor, with giddiness, [12]. 

Stupor, with headache, [12].