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Arnica montana (Arn.)

Arnica montana (Arn.) appears in 886 rubrics in the Repertorium. Of these, 38 are single rubrics in which only this remedy is listed, and 56 are small rubrics with at most two other remedies. The emphasis is on Fear, Anguish, Children, Delusions, Unconsciousness and Ailments from injury. The overall picture is that of a person after a blow: sore, on guard against every approach, and at the same time trying not to let anything show.

Injury and shock

The occasion stands at the beginning. The rubrics lead from injury into fainting, from shock into unconsciousness: "Unconsciousness – injury shock, from", in addition unconsciousness from concussion, stupor for the same reason, stupefaction after shock, loss of speech after an injury and apparent death after injuries. Remarkably, unconscious patients answer correctly when spoken to. Anguish also has its place in injury shock, in angina pectoris and at night in sweat. Where a shock lies in the past, the Repertorium itself names the shock of defloration in the history, also in the child, and hopelessness after a contusion.

Fear of touch and jarring

Fear is, with 73 rubrics, the largest main rubric and is directed almost always at the body. The person fears being touched, especially on injured parts, in the state of gout and when others approach; he fears being jarred or shaken ("Fear – jarred, shaken, of being"). He fears being hurt, in the dark and in traumatic shock, and he fears approaching vehicles, heart disease at night and apoplexy on waking. A single entry places the anxiety in time itself: "Present – anxiety about the present – future, and the". The protective stance applies to the body as to the moment.

Insisting on being well

Against the need for protection stands a behavior that denies it. The person declares that nothing is the matter with him, and in Irritability there is the rubric in which he sends the doctor home because he is not sick ("Irritability – sends – doctor/therapist/practitioner home and says he/she is not sick, sends the"). Fitting this are the rubrics that record equanimity in injury, and the single rubric "Concern, affected – shows no". They can be read as the attitude of one who knows pain and does not want to show it. To this belongs the aversion to company during pain: whoever suffers wants to be left alone.

Work and exertion

The picture is also one of work. Recorded are a worker who works willingly and persistently and has much endurance, but alongside it the single rubric "Work – too much" and the inability to do continuous mental work. Hurry and haste produce physical complaints, travel likewise when exhaustion is added. The body pays for what the person demands of the will.

Delusions and delirium

Among the Delusions, images of the insecure and the oppressive dominate. The bed feels as if there were a lump in it; tall objects lean forward and are about to fall over ("Delusions – objects, in regard to – lean forward and are about to fall over, tall objects"). Black figures appear in dreams, phantoms linger in thought, and the person holds a council meeting. In delirium and restlessness he throws himself about, in cough as in meningitis. From pain he scratches the plaster off the walls with his hands.

Further features

The child screams before the coughing fit, in sleep in meningitis, and is angry when breathing is difficult. A feeling of being bereft stands in its own single rubric ("Bereft – feeling").

Summary

Arnica montana appears in the Repertorium as the remedy of the person who has been struck yet stays upright. The injury has frightened him and made him unconscious; afterward there remains a fear of every touch and every jarring, and the patient fends off help where he needs it. Work and bravery cover what lies beneath in the way of fear of the present and the future.

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