Copying With Terminalillness

 

COPING WITH TERMINAL ILLNESS – A HOMOEOPATHIC PERSPECTIVE

Dr.Venugopal Gouri Consultant Homoeopath Gouri Homeo Healthway, Hyderabad.

0 92463 72625; 001 847 589 0586. drvenugopal@gmail.com

Organizing Secretary, THE ANDHRA PRADESH HOMOEOPATHIC ASSOCIATION

Hyderabad.

 

“Aane wala pal jaane wala hain, Ho sake to isme zindagi bita do, Pal jo yeh jaane wala hain”

 

This little song from a Hindi film probably epitomizes the state of the terminally ill patients at the corridor of the inevitable. The study of life and health has been so in depth that probably it is forgotten that in the efforts to lengthen life, the quality of life of the terminally ill is compromised. Even as the focus is on palliative care probably it is time that the recognition of the definition of health comes in handy i.e a state of complete physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being. If the efforts today are on to ease the pain, discomfort are studied, the distress of the mind under duress of the disease need to be taken into account to achieve a better quality of life in the closing phase. If there is a system of Medicine which can fit into this perspective well and help the patient cope with to a certain extent, then it is Homoeopathy.

 

Feelings of hopelessness and depression are predominant in these individuals and many a scientific study conducted on these individuals at that phase have also paradoxically proved a point that it is not pain but the mental suffering at that phase is the issue and most of them expressed a desire of hastened death. This reflects the state of hopelessness and despair. The state of grief is broken by a glimpse of hope but if does not it is a state of depression and needs to be addressed. The richness of symptoms of the Homoeopathic Materia Medica corroborates with the suffering of the terminally ill and qualifies to address them in this state of shock.

 

Probably the very fact that the material from which nosodes are derived and the nosological symptoms that they are capable of producing makes them ideal group of drugs to be prescribed for this condition. Nothing can take the place of CARCINOSIN as it is a remedy which is derived form the cancerous tissues itself and also covers almost all the symptoms a patient it is suffering at that period of time i.e depression, despair, hopelessness and a sense of guilt that his illness is having a bearing on his family around him; the conscientious person that he is. The desire for hastening of death is predominant in him too. One may daresay that it is the “pathological simillimum” for the condition. PSORINUM is not far behind as the weakness of the chronic and terminal illness is exalting and pushes him into a state of despair and hopelessness which pushes him to a state of suicidal tendency. The religiously motivated person that he is just about avoids that situation. MEDORRHINUM finds himself in an abyss of melancholy with the hopelessness pushing him into a state of insanity and finds that the time is too slow to pass by. Not surprisingly they are afflicted with diseases with degeneration of the nervous system like Alzheimer’s disease etc. If degeneration and despair are the keynotes then SYPHILLINUM is not far behind. More often than not in the final days one of these nosodes find their way into the prescription either because of the pathological symptoms or the symptoms of the mind per se.

 

If debility is the predominant feature of many a terminal illness so is the same with ACID PHOS too and it is not the pain that the patient is too worried about but the mental debility that he is under because of his illness. Guilt is an overwhelming feature of SULPHUR and he conforms to the idea that his life is a sense of misery to the people around him and an uncommon feature of this personality is his appetite when he is not satiated after eating well. The very cause of many an illness today is the mind itself and nothing matches this better than NATRUM MUR as the long lasting grief is the sole reason for his predicament.

 

Probably next to Carcinosin the remedy that warrants attention is IGNATIA since depression is an area which comes under into its control compared to any other remedy whatever may be the cause and not surprisingly so in this phase of life.

 

When it comes to despondency and despair of the individual driven to the extreme no other remedy probably comes closer than AURUM MET. So much so that suicide is the thought on the mind of the suffering individual all the time with guilt over reaching to self condemnation.

 

In this fast paced life when kith and kin are around but care is at a premium because of lack of affordability of time to the patients, the state of depression can be due to one more reason and CONIUM is an ideal “opium” for such patients. There is also this situation in life wherein the immediate family members do not sometimes give the optimum care to the sick and the silent grief of the suffering compounds their situation further and the suppressed emotions can play havoc on their system too and STAPHYSAGRIA finds a reason to be prescribed to such individuals. The dull and lethargic individual in ALUMINA can be also be hasty and harried when he finds himself being neglected and coupled with a suicidal tendency.

 

Fear is an overwhelming feature of the sick too and the nervous restlessness compels them into a state of undue anxiety and ARSENIC is for these patients. The fear of death hovering like a cloud is also there with NITRIC ACID and LYCOPODIUM too.

 

The thyroid hormones apart from controlling the metabolic parameters of the body also has a say on the equilibrium of the mental sphere and THYROIDIN works on the same modality.

 

If Homoeopathic Medicine has always been ahead of its times and the Medicine of the future it is also because there is always a remedy which will suit the needs of the day and not surprisingly so in this case too when William Boericke in his Materia Medica written a few decades ago talks of the LACHESIS patient seeking Euthanasia which is a topic of debate all over the world to this day.