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Aurum metallicum (Aur.)

Aurum metallicum (Aur.) appears in 1,646 rubrics in the Repertory. Of these, 71 are single-remedy rubrics in which only this remedy is listed, and 198 are small rubrics with at most two other remedies. The emphasis lies on Children (155), Sadness (92), Delusions, Ailments from particular causes, and Suicidal disposition (61), plus Despair, Religion, and Death. Together they give the picture of a dutiful person bearing responsibility, who despairs over her/his own demands, accuses herself/himself, sinks into hopelessness and thoughts of suicide, and seeks support in prayer, work, and the absolute.

Duty, Responsibility, and Self-Accusation

The keynote is an exaggerated demand on oneself. The rubrics list strong sense of honor, taking on responsibility, tireless working and much working, absolutist thinking and a claim to absoluteness, as well as leadership position, autonomy, and social climbing. Single-remedy rubrics record the feeling of having an unbearable, heavy task, of being threatened in one's own existence, of having problems with one's own authority, and of being held up by obstacles. Opposed to this stands self-accusation: accusing, blaming, and reproaching herself/himself, being morose toward herself/himself, grieving over neglected duty, feeling grief over the consequences of one's own actions, and the fear of neglecting duties. In the delusion of having done wrong, the person broods over it, as also in the delusion of having neglected friends. Children are perfectionistic and too self-critical. Whoever demands so much of himself/herself finds it hard to forgive.

Sadness and Hopelessness

The sadness is deep and externally conditioned at the same time. Listed are bitter, embittered sadness, sadness in old age, in cloudy weather, alternating with quarrelsomeness, energy, and insanity, and the desolation of the room. Hopelessness covers the whole night and the future; there is a feeling of hopelessness of prospects, of being forsaken, of joylessness. The person finds no pleasure and desires to be diverted from thoughts of himself/herself; conversation ameliorates boredom and slowness. Curious and characteristic of the remedy are the counter-pictures: a single-remedy rubric records that Aurum is full of hope during long-lasting illness or lung complaints; others list equanimity despite the anxiety of not recovering, and resignation to fate. Cheerfulness when thinking of death is also listed. Despair and composure lie close together.

Suicidal Disposition

Suicidal disposition is the largest single emphasis with 28 specific rubrics. Listed are quiet preparation for suicide, thoughts that always revolve around suicide, the question of the easiest and surest method, the resolution without deciding on the manner, the thought of drowning, also with pleasure, and jumping out of the window from pain. As triggers stand disappointed love, with weeping, childbirth, threatening abortion, prolapse or induration of the uterus, mania with sexual symptoms, and business failure. Some counterparts are unique: thinking of suicide ameliorates the state, and laughing alternates with loathing of life and desire to die. Further listed are contempt of death, desire for death in the evening, thoughts of death at night, and joy or pleasure in these thoughts. The rubrics document that in this picture the wish to die can take on a calm, deliberate form.

Religion, Calling, and Salvation

The religious line is strongly marked. Listed are zealous, fervent, and nocturnal praying, supplicating prayer kneeling with raised hands, praying aloud during sadness, and compulsive praying, also in delirium tremens. At the same time there are fear of God and a single-remedy rubric in which the person hates God. The despair concerns salvation: the person doubts salvation, torments herself/himself over it, considers herself/himself unworthy of eternal bliss because duties were not fulfilled, and demands penance. As a counter-picture appear chosen-ness, the feeling of being called, and the thought that the task is unbearable. Adolescents read much in the Bible, pray, and kneel. Added are piety at night and sensitiveness to church music. The demand on God and the demand on oneself coincide here.

Delusions and Body Sensations

Among the Delusions are some strikingly empty or split images: the whole body is hollow, there is a sensation of emptiness, the heart is turning, there is a tornness of the person or split personality. Further listed: obstacles lie in the way, the person in front is the father, faces appear larger or look out from corners, ghosts float in the air, and a monstrous head appears on the wall. In addition come aloofness from the world and the feeling of standing apart. The heart is a distinct point of reference: mental symptoms alternate with heart complaints, despair occurs in heart disease, and unconsciousness occurs in heart troubles.

Alternation and Vehemence

Beside the heaviness stand reversals. Cheerfulness alternates with irritability, violence, vehemence, despair, and quiet disposition; laughing alternates with violence, vehemence, and weariness of life; indifference alternates with activity. Anger occurs with despair and with trembling from suppressed anger, and ailments arise from vehemence and impetuosity. Involuntary laughing and smiling while speaking, pathetic and enthusiastic speech, and the tendency to endless questions round out the picture. A hurry is also listed, in which the person cannot do anything fast enough.

Children and Boys

The children's rubrics show hopeless grief, the impression of lifelessness, sadness of weakly, debilitated boys and weak memory and indifference in them, obstinacy after masturbation, weeping on meeting friends, and desire for music in nursing infants. The child carries the same heaviness as the adult.

Summary

Aurum metallicum appears in the Repertory as a remedy of exaggerated duty and despair over one's own standard. Responsibility, work, and honor form the backbone, self-accusation and hopelessness the other side, and suicidal disposition is differentiated in more detail than any other theme of the remedy. Religious struggle for salvation and the feeling of calling interlock with emptiness, tornness, and heart complaints. The picture is that of a person who carries everything until she/he breaks under it.

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