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Medorrhinum (Med.)

Medorrhinum (Med.) appears in 1,376 rubrics in the repertory. Of these, 100 are single-remedy rubrics in which only this remedy is listed, and 115 are small rubrics with at most two other remedies. The emphasis lies on Children (233), Delusions, Fear, Ailments from particular causes, Anxiety, Mistakes and Memory; Hurry, Restlessness and Excitement are added. Together they yield the picture of a person who lives hurried and unfinished, experiences time as distorted, comes alive at night and is at night oppressed by observation and touch, thereby crossing boundaries and repressing the consequences.

Hurry, mistakes and time

Haste runs through the remedy in many rubrics: hurry in the morning, in children, over trifles, in addition the statement that the person cannot think when driven to hurry. Mistakes are the consequence: in homework because of hurry, in spelling, in writing, during headache, in regard to time. The experience of time is displaced. A single-remedy rubric records that time passes too quickly and that what was done today seems to lie a week back; a small rubric lists that impending events seem far away. Similar is the feeling of being far away, dullness as if in the distance, a life that appears unreal, and trance. Work shows a characteristic pattern: beginning methodically and ending chaotically, long procrastination, stopping short without completion and at the same time workaholism. Whoever rushes himself loses time and overview.

The night as the time of enlivening

Numerous rubrics place lightness and exuberance in the night: elation and buoyancy at night, easy work and easy mental exertion at night, seriousness by day and exuberance at night, desire for light at night, walking about in the streets at night, improvement of dullness at night. At the same time the night is the time of oppression, for most delusions occur at night (see below), and a single-remedy rubric lists the desire to kill oneself: the person gets up at night and takes the pistol. Children are irritable all day and well-behaved and pleasant through the night, as two small rubrics show. This seems to be a person whose day and night exchange their roles.

Delusions of observation and of touch

Of the 88 delusions, 36 are specific, and a large group concerns the feeling of being watched. Listed are people looking at the person, being continually watched at night, faces peeking from behind the bed or out of the corners, footsteps and whispering behind the person, a voice saying "come", and a person speaking behind one. Touches follow: a hand gently strokes the head, the head is touched or pushed, someone caresses him. Added to these are large rats in the room, the perception of sounds as doubled and whistling, the notion that someone else is thinking at one's side, and objects that do not exist. A single-remedy rubric describes the delusion of having committed an unpardonable crime and therefore going to hell, another that something terrible has happened, a third the feeling of torture from which the mind must be freed. The world is less threatening in the sense of danger than in the sense of presence.

Fear and fright

The fear is directed toward making a stir and toward darkness. Listed are fear of attracting attention, fear of monsters in the dark, fear that something will creep out of every corner, fear of sharks, of cold air, and fear of swimming in deep water. In children, anxiety about uncanny water animals such as sharks and toads is added. When speaking, during headache, there is the fear of saying something wrong. Anticipation with presentiment is recorded as a single-remedy rubric: the person senses matters before they occur and is mostly right. The fear applies less to dying than to being exposed and to what creeps in hiding.

Boundaries and immoderation

A second large theme is transgression. Single-remedy rubrics state that the person crosses his own boundaries, must live himself out, craves many things, exaggerates everything, can be openly aggressive and amuses himself at the expense of others. Belonging here are passionate relationships, quick pick-ups, curiosity as the reason for homosexuality, the desire for psychotropic drugs in puberty, and the thought of sexual matters as soon as a woman appears. Denying one's own bad qualities and admiring one's own person are also recorded. Smaller rubrics list alcoholism in diabetes or from shyness, co-alcoholic, adventurousness, the puffing up, and the social climber. A striking indifference appears in matters of religion: whether the person goes to heaven or hell is all the same to him and causes no concern, as several single-remedy rubrics state; at the same time he prays constantly, even while vomiting, and preaches aloud. The moral tension is unmistakable.

Children

In children several lines stand out. First, malice and destruction: the children destroy everything that falls into their hands, threaten the parents, strike the father and scratch his face, kick pets out of spite, torment animals and provoke quarrels or punishment. Orange juice also triggers malice. Second, tenderness: they weep or scream from sympathy and show possessiveness toward one parent. Further recorded are the sudden loss of alertness, whereby the child becomes quiet and inactive, stunted growth, inattention in learning, and masturbation in boys. Reproach also increases the malice, while admonitions aggravate. The picture of the child shows contradiction and destructiveness beside an oversensitive side.

Sensitivity and nature

Beside the aggression stands a pronounced receptivity to beauty. Single-remedy rubrics list receptiveness to the fragrance of flowers, oversensitiveness to flowers and to what is beautiful and nice, and ecstasy at the sight of a flower. Smaller rubrics list sensitivity to nature and natural objects, concern for nature, and sensitivity to music. A single-remedy rubric also records the clarity of thoughts and the ability to convey them. Ecstasy alternates with sadness, and a harsh or stern word makes sad. The senses and the feelings are open, self-discipline by contrast is slight.

Summary

Medorrhinum appears in the repertory as a remedy of haste and distortion. Time and reality shift, work remains unfinished, and the day is determined by hurry and mistakes, the night by lightness and at the same time by observation and touch by the invisible. The person crosses boundaries but fears making a stir and does not care about the salvation of his soul, while the children alternate between destruction and compassion. The picture is that of an unchecked and at the same time unprotected vitality.

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