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Aethusa cynapium (Aeth.)

Aethusa cynapium (Aeth.) appears in 354 rubrics in the repertory. Of these, 30 are single-remedy rubrics listing only this remedy, and 27 are small rubrics with at most two other remedies. The emphasis lies on Fear and Anxiety, the rubrics on Children, Delusions, Idiocy, and Delirium. The picture is that of a person whose mental power alternates between excitement, raving, and dullness, and who is threatened by fear of death, above all in childhood and in sleep.

Children and Infants

By the frequency of all rubrics, the area of children is the largest. The specific rubrics concern infants: the child vomits milk after nursing, violently, soon afterward, and is weak and drowsy. Stupefaction follows the vomiting, difficult dentition goes with intolerance of milk, and crying occurs while nursing at the mother's breast. When the child is ill, it cries, screams in agony, and shows anguish. Idiocy is also recorded in children.

Fear of Falling Asleep

Fear has a strikingly uniform theme: sleep. Recorded are fear of closing the eyes because one would never wake again, fear of death in sleep and on falling asleep, and in addition fear of dying when falling asleep, especially after a nightmare. As a single-remedy rubric stands closing the eyes from fear of never waking again. Beside this there is fear of suffocating in the dark and, for this remedy alone, fear of operations and surgical procedures. This is supplemented by anxiety for loved ones.

Alternation of Idiocy, Excitement, and Raving

The remedy shows a back and forth of mental condition. Idiocy alternates with excitement, with raving, and with irritability; excitement in turn alternates with idiocy, and Silly behavior alternates with raving. Cheerfulness alternates with loquacity. Dullness shows itself in the person's being unable to think or concentrate, and in loss of comprehension. Reading is impossible after mental exertion, and thinking worsens concentration.

Delirium and Unconsciousness

Delirium knows the rubric of jumping out of the window, and amelioration from sweat. In Unconsciousness stand dilated, staring pupils and lying stretched out. The involuntary movements of the hands are convulsive in sleep.

Delusions and Peculiarities

The few specific Delusions are unusual: sense impressions are separated from objects, the tongue is too long, one is frightened by a mouse running out from under a chair, the clothes are beautiful, and there is a delusion of day and night. This remedy alone stands under talking to animals. Beside them are the desire for luxurious, magnificent clothing and equipment and the desire to do something witty. Among the physical conditions are anxious restlessness during migraine and heat in the head with moroseness.

Summary

The picture of Aethusa cynapium is determined by three lines: the great role of infants and children, the fear of death on falling asleep, and the rapid alternation of idiocy, excitement, and raving. The single-remedy rubrics furnish the clearest evidence for this. A king-pin symptom is not identified in the available data.

A reference work for professionals; it does not replace diagnosis or treatment.