Repertory › Remedies in the repertory

Lac caninum (Lac‑c.)

Lac caninum (Lac‑c.) appears in 581 rubrics in the Repertory. Of these, 42 are single-remedy rubrics in which only this remedy is listed, and 48 are small rubrics with at most two other remedies. The emphasis lies on Delusions, the rubrics for Children, Fear, Mistakes and Ailments from contempt and loss. The picture emerges of a person who feels dirty, excluded and abandoned, does not trust himself and is plagued by visions and bodily delusions.

Delusions

With 89 rubrics, Delusions is the largest main rubric and with 28 specific entries also the most differentiated. One group concerns the bed: it seems to move, to be lifted, the headboard seems to shake, and the sensation of motion of the bed is a rubric of its own. A second group concerns visions of monsters, snakes, spiders and distorted faces; a horrible monster seems to come out from under the chair, he seems to be lying on a large snake, and creeping, crawling things are seen only in the light, not in the dark. At the same time the person is frightened by a mouse running out from under the chair. A third group is directed at the body. It seems to fall to pieces, he would have to get out of the body in order not to go mad, and he is a disgusting, horrible mass of disease, short or diminished. Even the idea of having another person's nose is assigned to this remedy alone.

Excluded, motherless, despised

The self-image is marked by worthlessness. Single-remedy rubrics record that everything the person says is a lie and that she is a prostitute; she feels excluded, without guidance, dirty and powerless. The delusion that people look down on her and the ailments from contempt belong here: "Ailments from – contempt, being despised – looked down upon, feeling as if everyone is looking down on her/him". The group on the mother is remarkable. Two single-remedy rubrics speak of the feeling of being motherless and utterly alone; music serves as a substitute mother, and complaints appear later after adoption of a newborn. Fear of separation from friends stands alongside.

Relationship and masculinity

The capacity for relationship is disturbed. Single-remedy rubrics list inability to have a relationship and being able to live alone, a small rubric inability to maintain a long-lasting relationship. Masculinity appears in two small rubrics: lack of masculinity and the necessity of constantly proving one's own masculinity. A single-remedy rubric shows disgust at sexuality, and hysteria occurs during coition and at climax, as does insanity at the climax of orgasm. A hostile trait expresses itself in writing nasty things to friends and in fits of rage at the slightest occasion.

Fear

The fear is directed at the dark and the uncanny with a twist that this remedy alone shows: "Fear, phobia – darkness, but strangely not in the" and fear of monsters, not in the dark but in the light. Added to this are fear of poisonous animals at night, of earthquakes, of an illness of the respiratory organs, and of being unable to fulfill obligations. A single-remedy rubric links the delusion of becoming insane with sitting still and reflecting. In children, fear of fainting belongs here.

The unfinished and mistakes

Several single-remedy rubrics concern the unfinished: he wants to drop everything as soon as it is begun and cannot bring begun things to an end. When reading, the person adds words or omits words. Speech stutters when the person speaks fast; aphonia is aggravated by exertion, and the voice is nasal in children.

Body and animal

Rubrics that recall the animal are striking: incessant barking when the person sits alone in the car or is alone at home, aversion to the body odors of others with simultaneous love of one's own body odor, and the desire to bite, which the person cannot satisfy. The eyes appear large, and the feeling of being separated also characterizes the small stock of rubrics.

Summary

In the Repertory, Lac‑c. shows a picture of deep self-devaluation. The person feels dirty, excluded, motherless and despised, her words seem to her a lie, her body a mass of disease that could fall to pieces. Visions of monsters, snakes and faces, the swaying bed and fear precisely in the light form the counter-world to this self-perception. Relationships hardly succeed, begun things are left lying, and violence is often directed outward in words.

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