Anacardium orientale

Mind

This remedy is full of strange notions and ideas.

The mind appears to be feeble; almost, if not complete imbecility; seems as if in a dream; everything is strange; slow to comprehend. Marked irritability; disturbed by everything; cursing.

Weak memory. Forgetful of things in his mind but a moment ago. All his senses seem to vanish and he gropes around as if in a dream.

Change of states; after states. Dullness and sluggishness of the mind prevail. He is in a continuous controversy with himself. Irresolution marks his character. He cannot settle between doing this and that, he hesitates and often does nothing. He cannot decide, especially in an action of good or evil.

He hears voices commanding him to do this or that, and seems to be between a good and an evil will. He is persuaded by his evil will to do acts of violence and injustice, but is withheld and restrained by a good will. So there is a controversy between two wills, between two impulses. When this is really analyzed by one who knows something of the nature of man it will be seen that the man is disturbed in his external will, but the internal will cannot be affected by medicine.

His external voluntary is continuously excited by external influences, but his real will, in which is his conscience, restrains that and keeps him from carrying the impulses into effect. This can only be observed when its action is on a really good man. He has a controversy when his external will is aroused, but in an evil man there is no restraint and be will not have this symptom.

Hallucinations: a demon sits on one shoulder and an angel on the other.

He is disposed to malice and has an irresistible desire to curse and swear. Laughs when he should be serious. So it is carried on until all things in the external will are inverted. Internal anxiety, i. e., the internal will is in a turmoil. over this external disturbance.

" Contradiction between will and reason " is an attempt to express what the individual knew nothing about.

"Feels as though he had two wills."

That is better. It finally destroys or paralyzes the external will, and when a man is naturally evil and is under the paralyzing influence of Anacardium he will do acts of violence.

A wicked man is restrained, not by his conscience, but by fear of the law. Anacardium paralyzes the external will arid places him in a position of imbecility, and he does acts of violence from his own natural perverted self It has so acted on a portion of the mind that it teaches a great deal.

I have learned much from Anac., Aurum and Argentum of the strange action of medicines on the human mind.

Psychology must be figured out by the action of drugs on the human mind. By this means we get at facts and can lay aside many hypotheses.

Ideas as if nothing were real, all seems to be a dream. Fixed ideas. He thinks he is double. This comes from a vague consciousness that there is a difference between the external and internal will, a consciousness that one will is the body and another is the mind.

Dwells on thoughts about salvation. That a stranger is by his side, is another recognition of the two wills. That strange forms accompany him, one to his right side and one to his left. This mental state drives him to madness.

Alternation of his moods and understanding. One moment he sees a thing and another moment he does not understand it. One moment she sees it is her child and another that it is not. One moment it is a delusion and next moment it is an illusion.

One moment thinks it is so and next moment has enough reason left that it is not so.

Delusion is an advanced stage of illusion.

In the Repertory we have the same remedies often in illusion and delusion, it is a matter of grade.

When the intellect is slightly affected it is an illusion, and what he sees he knows is not so.

He sees demons, and at first he knows from his intelligence that a demon is not there, but later, he wants you to drive him out.

It does not matter which, they are similar symptoms, and it is a matter of degree, and so, in the Repertory, delusions and illusions are not given separate places.

Anac., Hyos., Stram, and Bell., are important in bringing out the quality of the perverted human mind as to the intelligence and affections.

Whenever a medicine makes a man desire to do something it affects his will, and when it affects his intelligence it is acting on his understanding. Medicines act on both.

Low-spirited, disheartened, fears be is pursued, looks for thieves, expects enemies, fears everything and everybody.

Full of internal anxiety. No peace. He is separated from the whole world, and he despairs to do that which is required of him. Cowardly in the extreme.

Fears some dreadful thing will happen. Morose, sulky, sullen.

Unsocial; complains of weak memory. Slight causes make him excessively angry. A strong feature is that all moral feeling is taken out of him. He feels cruel. Can do bodily injury without feeling.

Cruel, malicious, wicked.

Bad effects of mental excitement. Weak-minded. Consequences of fright and mortification. Suitable in religious mania when the conflict between the external and internal will is kept up. It is analogous to Hyos.

Many complaints are ameliorated by eating.

Sensation here and there of pressure, described as if a plug, all through the body, in the head, eyes, in the navel and down the spine.

Objects appear too far off. Things have a strange look, sometimes uncanny. Illusions of smell, burning timber, pigeon's dung.

Chronic dry coryza.

The whole body has been well covered by symptoms; but it seems that the mind represents the principal aspect, and A will seldom be used excepting for such mind symptoms.

Usually when the mental symptoms are strong the physical are also covered by the remedy.

Full of trembling and paralytic weakness. Tetanus; epilepsy. Sensations as of a hoop or band around the body, limbs or head; pressing as of a plug.

Skin

The eruptions are like Rhus in many respects; erysipelatous eruptions dark, dusky and of malignant types.

It is an antidote to Rhus poisoning.

Eruptions all over. Yellow vesicles are common. Intense itching of eruptions. Warts on the palms like Natrum mur. Skin burns much. It seems closely related in its symptoms to all the Rhus family.