-GEORGE VITHOULKAS
Belladonna
Atropa belladonna
Deadly Nightshade
Solanaceae
Tincture of whole plant when beginning to flower
The essential features
When one “clearly perceives what it is in medicines which heals,” as Hahnemann enjoins, then one no longer thinks of a medicine in narrow terms. That is to say, when one understands the essence of a remedy, one can envision the possible applications of that remedy in their broadest context.
Many of our medicines are spoken of as “acute remedies” or “constitutional remedies”, but no such artificial boundaries exist in homeopathy. In the course of my personal experience I have observed that belladonna, a medicine generally considered as an acute remedy, is among the most frequently used polychrests for chronic conditions as well.
belladonna is a remedy characterized by great intensity and vividness. Both belladonna patients and belladonna disease processes are impressive because of the great energy they manifest. Thus, belladonna pathology can be among the most extravagant produced by any remedy in our entire materia medica. Great forcefulness seems to characterize the pathological processes of belladonna. Similarly, the constitutional belladonna individual generally appears vital and intense. He seems to possess a great amount of well-balanced energy. One rarely finds a use for this remedy in depleted, apathetic individuals. Rather, belladonna people look healthy and robust. They seem to be people without deep miasmatic illness, without many layers of sickness. Consequently, there is frequently a paucity of mental and emotional symptoms in the first stages of pathology of these patients. Furthermore, they almost invariably have clear aggravations after taking the remedy and generally require little long-term management.
In most homeopathic materia medicas great emphasis is placed on the “suddenness” of belladonna conditions. This “sudden” quality certainly pertains to acute conditions and also to some of the individual crises of chronic conditions, but in the typical chronic cases one very frequently sees a slow steady intensification of symptomatology over the years. Thus, it is usual to find a history where the symptoms began rather innocuously but have been progressing steadily, such that within the last year or so the condition has become unbearable, driving the patient to seek treatment. The pathology of the constitutional belladonna patient generally confines itself to the physical level; this contrasts with the usual patient course seen in other remedies. Typically, a patient will initially manifest only physical symptoms, but, with added stress or suppressive medical therapies, the disease penetrates to involve deeper levels of the organism, i.e. , the mental-emotional sphere. Consequently, in most cases, one sees a mixture of both psychological and physical symptoms. belladonna constitutions, however, seem to “quarantine” the pathology to but some specific physical disorder, perhaps because of their relatively higher vitality. In these patients one usually encounters a history of a progressive intensification of the physical disorder and little evidence of mental or emotional affections. For example, one often hears a patient relate a history of migraine headaches which originally were infrequent and rather mild but which have in the past two years increased in frequency to several times a week and which consist of an almost maddening pain.
As a consequence of the above observations, one can say that the diagnosis and prescription of belladonna is generally made on the basis of physical disorders. However, a characteristic belladonna personality does exist.
Belladonna
Atropa belladonna
Deadly Nightshade
Solanaceae
Tincture of whole plant when beginning to flower
The essential features
When one “clearly perceives what it is in medicines which heals,” as Hahnemann enjoins, then one no longer thinks of a medicine in narrow terms. That is to say, when one understands the essence of a remedy, one can envision the possible applications of that remedy in their broadest context.
Many of our medicines are spoken of as “acute remedies” or “constitutional remedies”, but no such artificial boundaries exist in homeopathy. In the course of my personal experience I have observed that belladonna, a medicine generally considered as an acute remedy, is among the most frequently used polychrests for chronic conditions as well.
belladonna is a remedy characterized by great intensity and vividness. Both belladonna patients and belladonna disease processes are impressive because of the great energy they manifest. Thus, belladonna pathology can be among the most extravagant produced by any remedy in our entire materia medica. Great forcefulness seems to characterize the pathological processes of belladonna. Similarly, the constitutional belladonna individual generally appears vital and intense. He seems to possess a great amount of well-balanced energy. One rarely finds a use for this remedy in depleted, apathetic individuals. Rather, belladonna people look healthy and robust. They seem to be people without deep miasmatic illness, without many layers of sickness. Consequently, there is frequently a paucity of mental and emotional symptoms in the first stages of pathology of these patients. Furthermore, they almost invariably have clear aggravations after taking the remedy and generally require little long-term management.
In most homeopathic materia medicas great emphasis is placed on the “suddenness” of belladonna conditions. This “sudden” quality certainly pertains to acute conditions and also to some of the individual crises of chronic conditions, but in the typical chronic cases one very frequently sees a slow steady intensification of symptomatology over the years. Thus, it is usual to find a history where the symptoms began rather innocuously but have been progressing steadily, such that within the last year or so the condition has become unbearable, driving the patient to seek treatment. The pathology of the constitutional belladonna patient generally confines itself to the physical level; this contrasts with the usual patient course seen in other remedies. Typically, a patient will initially manifest only physical symptoms, but, with added stress or suppressive medical therapies, the disease penetrates to involve deeper levels of the organism, i.e. , the mental-emotional sphere. Consequently, in most cases, one sees a mixture of both psychological and physical symptoms. belladonna constitutions, however, seem to “quarantine” the pathology to but some specific physical disorder, perhaps because of their relatively higher vitality. In these patients one usually encounters a history of a progressive intensification of the physical disorder and little evidence of mental or emotional affections. For example, one often hears a patient relate a history of migraine headaches which originally were infrequent and rather mild but which have in the past two years increased in frequency to several times a week and which consist of an almost maddening pain.
As a consequence of the above observations, one can say that the diagnosis and prescription of belladonna is generally made on the basis of physical disorders. However, a characteristic belladonna personality does exist.