Repertory › Remedies in the repertory

Argentum nitricum (Arg‑n.)

Argentum nitricum (Arg‑n.) appears in 1,248 rubrics in the Repertorium. Of these, 67 are single rubrics in which only this remedy is listed, and 78 are small rubrics with at most two other remedies. The greatest emphasis is on Fear with 143 rubrics, followed by Children, Anxiety and Delusions; Anticipation, Panic, Impulses and disorders of Speaking add to these. Together they yield the picture of an anxious, hurried person whose fear is bound to space, who is oppressed by narrow, high and crowded places, who falls into anticipation before every event and tries to forestall the anxiety by haste.

Anticipation and hurry

Anticipation is the most striking feature. It is recorded before any unusual event, with fear of failing and the feeling of impending misfortune. A single rubric notes that the person is normal once the event is over. Hurry is added to this: the haste to keep the appointed time, and a second single rubric in which the person is worried the day before an appointment but then finishes early. Examinations belong here too, with the threat of a blackout. The hurry serves the anxiety: the person walks faster and is relieved by walking fast; anxiety, on the other hand, arises precisely while walking fast, when the person believes an attack is coming. Whoever hurries wants to run away from fear, and the haste creates the fear anew.

Fear of space

A peculiarity of the remedy is the fears of particular places and spaces. Recorded are fear of narrow bridges, of tunnels, of elevators and lifts, of traffic jams on the highway, in a boat, panic in an airplane, fear of public places, agoraphobia, and fear of high places from which the person fears falling. A single rubric names fear of confinement. Regarding train travel a time structure appears: the anxiety is present during the impending journey and improves on the train. Fear of walking past certain street corners and fear of business and work in the afternoon are likewise recorded. The feeling of having no ground under the feet describes the same lack of support.

Delusions of collapse

Of the 90 Delusions, 28 are specific, and many start from walls, houses and falling. The houses on both sides are coming closer and would crush the person; the walls slide toward each other, would squeeze or collapse inward; corners of houses seem to jut out, so that the person fears running into them while walking. Objects fall down, walls collapse, and the person believes that at certain points he cannot get past without falling. The wish or the idea of jumping from a height is also recorded. The environment appears as a danger that is closing in. In addition come unusual images: the person is a bottle of soda water, is threatened by a black snake, is seized by thoughts, and everything at home has changed.

Hypochondriasis and work

Several single rubrics link Hypochondriasis with work and anxiety: the feeling that work will do harm, the desire to stay in bed for a long time, anxiety when driving or riding, and Despair. The delusion that work would be harmful stands in the Delusions rubric and as a small rubric under Inactivity. A single rubric records at the same time that the person demands that whoever does not work should not eat either, but, driven by hunger, eats in secret. Further rubrics name aversion to business work, anxiety about business and ailments from prolonged mental exertion. The anxiety is directed less at the work than at the consequences of one's own performance.

Impulses and irrationality

A small but conspicuous group concerns morbid impulses. Recorded are the impulse to do absurd or odd things, peculiar impulses, actions from hidden, irrational motives, strange objections to every suggestion and the most senseless objections to all suggestions. In addition come persistent, recurring and peculiar ideas, an alternation of thoughtlessness and absorption and of recklessness and absent-mindedness. Rage over trifles and anger at eleven o'clock in the morning also belong here. The actions do not follow reflection but an inner compulsion that the person cannot interpret himself.

Speaking, memory and concentration

Speaking is charged with anxiety: recorded are forgetting words while speaking, the person looking around for help, anxious talk about his own condition that alarms wife and child, talking to himself about worries, and in children stuttering with swallowing of words. While studying and writing, concentration and consciousness fade, it grows dark before the eyes, and writing produces dizziness. Weakness of memory arises from sadness and dancing. The anxiety is recorded in the morning at eleven o'clock and is improved by a small amount of whiskey. A connection of the anxiety with fright from a test of fate is also noted.

Children and despair

In Children (121 rubrics) fear of fainting, aversion to work, easy soothability and an old, withered, shriveled look stand in the foreground. Despair is directed at others and at oneself, and a single rubric describes a bottomless, constant anxiety about which the person is annoyed. The feeling of being abandoned, bashfulness and shy gestures complete the picture. Suicidal thoughts in chorea and weakness of will from melancholy are recorded.

Summary

Argentum nitricum shows in the Repertorium a pattern of expectant, spatially bound anxiety. Before every event the tension rises, hurry is meant to forestall it, and narrow, high or crowded places trigger panic, which condenses into delusions of collapsing walls and houses moving closer together. Impulses and objections follow no recognizable logic, and speaking and thinking falter under pressure. It is the picture of a person driven by his own anticipation of danger.

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