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Stramonium (Stram.)

Stramonium (Stram.) appears in 2,727 rubrics in the Repertory. Of these, 297 are single-remedy rubrics in which only this remedy is listed, and 371 are small rubrics with at most two other remedies. The emphasis lies on Delusions, Delirium, Fear, Gestures, Laughing, Children and Raving. The picture that emerges is that of a person overrun by terror, images and abandonment, who in his distress clings to any counterpart, to light and to closeness; his state flips rapidly between fear, rage and laughter.

King-Pin Symptoms

Five king-pin symptoms give the remedy its own outline. "Delirium - shrieking with - help, for" describes the cry of a person who believes himself in an inner blaze and demands rescue. It is answered by the clinging, first as "Clinging - persons or furniture, to," then in the form that concerns the child: "Clinging - children, in - awakens in a panic, recognizes no one, clings to those standing by, the child." Added is "Desire, great - sun, light and company, for," the desire for brightness, warmth and the presence of others. The two remaining king-pin symptoms concern pretense and self-doubt: the affectation and dissimulation that also show in insanity and in mania, and the delusion of being unfit for one's position. One can read in this the reverse side of the raving: behind the rage stands a person who needs help and knows no other way to ask for it.

Delusions

The delusions form the largest field and are predominantly threatening. They move between persecution and the disintegration of order. A person sees figures rising from the earth, coming toward him from the corner or standing beside him. He fears being murdered, roasted and eaten. The bed becomes an unsafe place: it is said to fall on him, to be pulled out from under him, to be full of wrinkles or to float. Alongside stand illusions about one's own body, such as having three legs or being cut in two halves, delusions of jealousy and infidelity, and the feeling of being alone, in the wilderness or in a graveyard. Other rubrics report the smell of burning, rolling balls of fire and a pull in the ear. That the relation to oneself begins to totter is shown by "Delusions - position, she/he is unfit for her/his," the conviction of not being equal to a role as mother, wife or in the profession.

Delirium and Insanity

The delirium shows itself in many forms: anxious, talkative, stupid and stupefied, or accompanied by rhythmic and peculiar movements. It alternates with tetanic convulsions, it appears after erysipelas, with sexual excitement and in delirium tremens, where the tongue trembles and the wrong words are chosen. The person flees, tears his clothes, crawls about in bed, barks or wants to go into the street. In insanity the spectrum extends to rubrics such as "Insanity - roots in the earth with the mouth like a pig," to running amok and to imitating the voices and movements of animals. How rapidly the states flip is shown by the rubrics in which raving alternates with laughing, with talkativeness, with the premonition of death and with the return of clear consciousness.

Fear, Anxiety and Being Alone

The fear is directed at dogs, tunnels without light, processions, water, suffocation and misfortune through trifles. From the fear of being alone grows the wish for light and company. The anxiety itself is violent, terrible, maddening, at times accompanied by a strange sensation and triggered by delusions; it abates when it gets light. The rubrics on Forsakenness link isolation with panic horror, and the inconsolableness becomes worse in solitude and in the dark. The permanent state is mirrored in "Threatened - permanently" and in the expectation of the dreadful.

Gestures, Laughing and Speech

The hands are constantly in motion. They grasp at flies or flames, open and close, pluck, break needles and little sticks, fill the pockets or indicate wishes by gestures. Laughing has many shades: it alternates with anxiety and singing, accompanies raving and rage attacks, comes with bad mood and can be sardonic. Cheerfulness and weeping also alternate: the person weeps all night and laughs all day. Speech falters in stammering, in the long struggle for a single word, or bursts forth as a shrill voice. A separate line leads into the religious, with constant, fanatical praying, nocturnal piety and reading the Bible all day.

Children

In children, Stramonium stands above all in the rubrics of fear and fright: nightmares, pavor nocturnus, fears and behavioral disorders, anger when the child is lifted up, and fear of the dark after ghost stories. The child scratches the father's face, is insensitive to punishment and likes to read fantastic stories. A severe birth trauma and its consequences are listed separately.

Mildness and Violence

Here lies a duality shown by "Mildness - masks violence." It fits the rubrics in which outbursts come without cause, anger arises on being tickled or pushed, and pent-up anger seeks room. Impertinence, Abusing and Reproaching oneself also belong to it. Even what is one's own and what is another's blur: the person cannot recognize the one he is speaking to.

Summary

The Repertory draws Stramonium as a remedy of overwhelming distress: terrifying images, persecution and being alone drive to scream, flight and raving, while behind the outbursts a desire for light, company and support becomes visible. The alternation of laughing, weeping and rage, the restless hands and the dissimulation form the picture of a person who tries to save himself from disintegration only by clinging.

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