EVOLUTION OF ARGENTUM MIND :

- Farokh Master.

COMPENSATED VS NON-COMPENSATED STATE

ARGENTUM METALLICUM

Amongst all Argentums, the one which has the most profound action on the brain is Argentum metallicum, bringing about gradual softening of the brain. Amongst the higher faculties, it usually singles out the intellectual mind to such an extent that the person becomes imbecile (refer to chronic poisoning of silver).

It is a very common experience for the Argentum metallicum patient that whenever he attempts to strain his intellectual faculties, he develops various physical problems.

1. Mental exertion aggravates. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

2. Frontal headache of businessmen. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

3. Head pain, from mental exertion. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

4. Mental agitation induces headache and indigestion (Arg. nit.)

5. Prostration of mind, mental exhaustion, brain fag (Arg. met.)

6. Thinking of complaints aggravates. (Arg. nit.)

7. Vertigo, mental exertion aggravates. (Arg. met. Arg. nit.)

With the above state of mind, any form of stressful situation will be definitely detrimental to his health. They seem to be totally unbalanced whenever anything is expected out of their intellectual abilities. The people surrounding such a patient can easily observe the changes on his face. The following rubrics indicate how easily stressed they can get.

1. Mental exertion aggravates. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

2. Forgetfulness. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

3. Indolence, aversion to work. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

4. Irritability from trifles. (Arg. met.)

5. Prostration of mind, mental exhaustion, brain fag. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

Once in the stressed situation, they are aroused very easily, they become sensitive to their surroundings and any physical problem can invite various fears related to health.

1. Anger, from cough. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

2. Anguish, clothing too tight when walking in open air. (Arg. met.)

3. Anxiety, about health. (Arg. met.)

4. Anxiety, health. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

5. Anxiety, laryngitis. (Arg. met.)

6. Full of cares, worries, in laryngitis. (Arg. met.)

7. Confusion of mind during heat. (Arg. met.)

8. Excitement during pain. (Arg. met.)

9. Fear, of apoplexy. (Arg. met., Arg. nit)

10 Hypochondriasis. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

11. Impulse to jump, after epilepsy. (Arg. met.)

12. Irritability, waking. (Arg. met.)

13. Rage, after convulsions. (Arg. met.)

14. Rage, during pain. (Arg. met.)

15. Striking, in epilepsy. (Arg. met.)

Their speech is also affected.

1. Loquacity, changing quickly from one subject to another. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

2. Talk wandering. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

3. Vivacious. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

Basically these patients are highly intelligent, cheerful, optimistic, objective and quite positive in their approach as are seen from the following rubrics.

1. Concentration active. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

2. Exhilaration. (Arg. met.)

3. Great inclination to talk, his mind is very clear and he agrees with great felicity. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

4. Heavenly sensation. (Arg. met.)

5. Ideas, abundant, clearness of mind. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

6. Inclined to laughter and joking. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

7. Increased cheerfullness and disposition to talk. (Arg. met.)

8. Jesting. (Arg. met.)

9. Oversensitive to all external impressions. (Arg. met.)

10. Tranquillity, calmness. (Arg. met.)

I would like to make one thing very clear that not all people who live a stressful life develop an Argentum state, but people who already are in a state of Argentum pathology can be easily affected by even minor stress. They are like the delicate, fragile glass which easily compare it with remedies like Silica and Ignatia, which are also like antique showpieces.

Whenever the nervous system is drained out or whenever there is extreme fatigue due to severe stress, any sort of sexual abuse can be a strong aggravating or precipitating factor, e.g. excessive sexual intercourse, excessive nightly emissions, excessive masturbation.

1. Atrophy of penis after onanism. (Arg. met.)

2. Erection, wanting, from masturbation. (Arg. nit.)

3. Head pain, after coition. (Arg. nit.)

4. Metrorrhagia, after coition. (Arg. nit.)

5. Metrorrhagia, during coition. (Arg. nit.)

6. Pain, vagina, during coition. (Arg. nit.)

7. Pollutions, after masturbation. (Arg. met.)

Here it is essential to note that one can mistake an Argentum state with Sepia, Stannum metallicum, Acid phosphoricum, and Muriatic acid states, as the common denominator for all of them is fatigue.

Leading a stressful life for quite a long period produces a sense of mental fatigue. This sense of fatigue makes them indisposed to talk in society. He has a strong aversion to engage in a social conversation because this definitely leads to a strain on his mental resources.

1. Displeased, aversion to talk. (Arg. met., Arg nit.)

2. Dullness, sluggishness, difficulty in thinking and comprehending. (Arg. met., Arg. not.)

3. Indifference, in company. (Arg. nit.)

4. Indifference, to pleasure. (Arg. net.)

5. Introspection. (Arg. met.)

6. Loathing in general. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

7. Sadness, despondency. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

8. Work impossible. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

Ultimately the tired state takes on a more or less permanent character. This may be reflected even on the sexual plane with eventual impotency.

1. Crushing pain in the right testis, with clothing intolerable and aggravation in bed at night.

2. Atrophy. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

3. Erection, incomplete. (Arg. nit.)

4. Erection, too short. (Arg. nit.)

5. Erection, wanting. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

6. Erection, wanting, from masturbation. (Arg. nit.)

7. Erection, wanting, with sexual desire. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

8. Erection, wanting, stultified by sudden laxness of penis. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

9. Pollutions. (Arg. met., Arg. nit)

10. Pollution, without dreams (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

11. Pollution, with erection. (Arg. nit.)

12. Pollution, without erection. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

13. Pollutions, frequent. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

14. Pollution, after masturbation. (Arg. nit.)

15. Pollution, during sleep. (Arg. nit.)

16. Retraction, testis. (Arg. nit.)

17. Seminal emission almost every night. (Arg. nit.)

18. Sexual desire, diminished. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

19. Sexual desire, increased, without erections. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

20. Sexual desire, wanting. (Arg. met., Arg. nit.)

21. Genitalia shrivelled. (Arg. nit.)

AGITATION OF ARGENTUMS

The Argentum subject lives in a state of perpetual agitation, always feeling driven, never having enough time for what he wants to do or feels he ought to get done, wanting to get a job finished as soon as it is begun, darting of with unnecessary precipitation to carry out an assignment, and generating an atmosphere of turbulence, tiring and exasperation to his entourages, whether at home or at work.

In my practice following observations have been repeatedly verified :-

. Cannot bear inefficiency in others.

. Cannot wait for an appointment.

. Anticipation of my engagement brings on

Anxiety Sweating Diarrhoea

Always panicky before an intellectual challenge, that is even though the patient knows the subject well. He becomes extremely anxious and suffers from physical symptoms like rumbling of abdomen, flatulence, vomiting, diarrhoea.

If any kind of ordeal is coming up, this agitation is intensified into a peculiar kind of fear. This state can be likened to that of a deer in the jungle of Africa sensing its predator.

It is really an apprehension of what may happen.

In my clinic I have experienced this apprehension in various forms:

Fear he will miss the train.

Fear doctor will not arrive on time.

Fear of result of pathological investigation.

Fear of examination.

Fear what physician will reveal.

Fear for his health when he is travelling. (Argentum patients always carry an emergency kit when they travel).

Argentum patients usually bring a thick file of investigation especially 10-15 cardiograms are contained in it with different prescriptions from various doctors.

Because of their friendly nature, they become friends with their doctor easily.

Argentum patients usually do not want to go and visit patients in hospital.

IMPULSIVENESS OF ARGENTUMS

No author describes so beautifully impulsiveness of Argentum as Dr. James Tyler Kent. He says, "A strange thought comes to his mind that it he goes past a certain corner of the street he will create a sensation, will fall down and have a fit, and to avoid that he will go round the black."

Argentum patients are many times preoccupied with certain thoughts about walking in a certain manner, climbing or descending the stairs in a certain manner, driving the car in a certain manner. These thoughts ultimately lead to compulsive psychology which may result at a later age in paranoid superstitions and fixed ideas. (Remember Conium, Zincum, Stramonium and Rhus tox for the superstitions)

Many times these impulse could be life threatening. The best example would be that the patient has a desire to jump from a height, to throw something at someone, to put a screw driver into an electric socket etc. It all starts with a thought which then turns into an impulse and the patient starts fantasizing about it. He completely gets involved in this scenario as the impulses gain momentum to the point of hypnotising him. After the impulse, when they realize that all this was just an imagination, then they frequently say "What would have happened if....., if had jumped from the bridge or parapet?" Basically, knowing their impulsive nature, Argentums do not engage themselves in dangerous activities, such as walking near a slope, crossing a narrow bridge, driving the car at a very high speed on a highway, crossing the railways track. He actually prefers and enjoys cosy and safe situations, in fact he will try and avoid any ordeals.

PHOBIAS OF ARGENTUMS

Some common situations which I have confronted in my practice are:

. Feeling of panic

a) If shut in a toilet, telephone booth, or lift.

b) In a congested train which stops in between two stations.

c) In a train which stops in the tunnel.

d) In theatre or opera which is crowded (Argentum patients prefer sitting near the exit door).

e) While travelling in an aeroplane.

f) While crossing the footbridge.

g) While ascending or descending a staircase.



LESSER KNOWN ASPECTS OF ARGENTUM MIND

Argentum nitricum patients have a very low endurance. Their sustenance and their ability to bear suffering is also very low. Hence, they are scared of any affliction, physical or mental. Hence, their fears like:

1. Fear of ordeals

2. Fear of losing self-control.

If you are about to break some news to an Argentum nitricum patient, he would become very anxious because he cannot bear to be kept waiting or in abeyance. Argentum nitricum patients cannot brook suspense.

The following rubrics convey the intensity of the above emotion.

Suspense aggravates (Phatak repertory, single, rubric. pg 334)

Ailments from anticipation (S.1.)

Argentum nitricum patients have always been projected as IMPULSIVE, DRAMATIC, HURRIED and LIVELY. Their style of narrating symptoms holds you in rapt attention. Their anxiety about health can be tremendous and can reach ridiculous proportions so they may find excuses of skip work or not attend to their business. It appears in the repertory in the form of the following rubrics.

1. Anxiety - hypochondriac

2. Bed, remain, desire to be, in

3. Delusion as if sick

4. Feigning sick

5. Indifference to business affairs

6. Delusion, work will do harm

7. Fear, dread, of work

and most importantly,

8. Indolence, aversion to work, work will do him harm, he thinks (hypochondriasis)

There is another subtle variant of the traditional picture of Argentum nitricum which is often missed. Argentum nitricum patients may appear to be dramatic, energetic and boisterous, but this could be a mask. Underneath this mask is an individual who is alone and forsaken.

Delusion, forsaken, deserted

Argentum nitricum patients could present with a history of being neglected, disowned or repudiated by his relatives, he can be the second child who is not loved and is uncared for Calcarea sulph. The essential difference between Argentum nitricum and Calcarea sulph is that Calcarea sulph laments about his lack of appreciation or love, they may appear sharp in speech, sarcastic, and even harsh. Hence, you have the rubric Sadness, bitter.

Lamenting because he is not appreciated.

Argentum nitricum patients will take things in his stride and will not lament about the lack of love or appreciation. The grief is very beautifully masked and the projection is always of someone who is gay and lively. The rubrics of the situation would be the following:

1. Delusion, as if neglected.

2. Delusion. forsaken, deserted.

3. Talk, indisposed to, in sadness (the only drug in the third degree for this symptom).