TALK : 21 OBSERVATION IN CASE TAKING

Hello. Today we shall talk about observation in Case Taking. I believe that along
with questioning and the enquiry into the patient and his experience, our
observation of the patient is very very important because primarily the person’s
“Experience” or his “Sensation” and “Who he is” and how he manifests in his life
are two sides of the same coin. And very often if we simply chase the sensation
with the enquiry, we fail to see who the person really is. So what we need to
observe is how this person is in our presence, how he is in his everyday life and
how does he face the various situations.

Let me give you a simple example:

A patient wrote an email, “I have scabs on my back. They get dried and they grow
again. There are a few blackish ones still persisting. Then they grow. I have a few
grey hair, and bowel problems. I am a bit anxious about the college I am joining in
the UK very soon, and about the various aspects that will be new there like
…friends and food.”

So this is a very simple email and just from this email we can get an idea who the
person is? What are his concerns?

His concerns are the blackish discoloration on the skin, some graying of the hair
and minor bowel disturbances.

Two of these complaints are to do with how he looks, his appearance. They are
non-threatening. They are chronic. They are some things he needs to live with. He
is anxious also whether he can adjust to a new situation. It is an anticipatory
anxiety. So from this simple email, we have the nature of the complaint – the
sycotic miasm. The anticipation, the fixed chronic nature of the problem, the
importance of his appearance indicates the 3rd row. The adjustment to the new
situation and the discomfort in unfamiliar situations indicates the 3rd row. And so
you have a hint where he is going to lie. A sycotic miasm in the 3rd row... enough

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 1

hints for the remedy Silicea. And when he actually came and spoke to me, he
turned out to be a very good case of Silica.

So each case presents in a typical unique way…in the way they express
themselves, in the way their concerns are.

For example:

One patient says, “The last time my blood sugar was 147, now it is 149. Why is
that so?” And whatever reply you give him, he is not satisfied. Then you see the
following rubrics are applicable:

Anxiety with suspicion.

Rest, cannot, unless things are in proper place.

So the sugar has to be exactly what it should be and you get the possibility of the
remedy Arsenicum album.

Each person presents his miasm and sensation even in the way he enters and
talks. It gives a lot of clues about the way he perceives life. That is exactly what
“Sensation” is.

For example a patient walks in and he feels he is in an acute situation, and

requires urgent attention. This makes him restless. He says, “I want relief right
now, I cannot wait.”

Then the rubric for this is:

Besides himself

And then you look for remedies there. The patient simply cannot stand any pain
or suffering, he is almost going crazy with it. He says, “I am going mad with this
suffering.”

My teacher Dr J.L. Kanjilal mentioned to me how he solved his first case. The
patient said, “I am going mad, don’t ask me any questions. Just give me relief
immediately. ” and he gave him Aconite which worked.

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 2

Observations of behavior in Remedies

I want to share with you some observations of behavior of patients who need
some specific remedies:

These observations are gleaned from years of practice. But should be used with
caution because it is simply my experience and observation and you should not be
tied down to that.

For example:

Kali carbonicum

For me the favorite observation is that these are patients will not leave you. They
will remain faithful to you, they will stick to you, but at the same time they will
not stop complaining. They will keep saying, “This do difficult for me, how long
must I go on like this? How long this treatment lasts? Why is it not getting better?
Why is my pain? ” etc. but they are not leaving you. So the rubric is similar to

Quarrels with his bread and butter.

Which means basically he quarrels with the person whom he feels dependent on.
So there is a strong feeling of dependence and quarrelsomeness at the same time.
This is very interesting rubric for Kali carbonicum.

Another remedy which I observed was:

Calcarea silicata

Somehow the moment this Calcarea Silicata patient walks in I already know the
remedy in many cases. It’s just so typical the way they are. They are often I see
young people in their teens and usually hypochondriacal. They come in for minor,
apparently trivial, ailments, on which they spend a lot of time. They have a lot of
anxiety about health –also about examinations, or to find a job or to do well
somewhere. They are usually timid and mild.

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But besides this just the very look at them as they walk in gives me a clue and
then there are some very beautiful confirmatory symptoms like:

“Coldness and sweatiness of the tips of their fingers” and a

‘blue or a purple line on the margin of their gums.’

Lycopodium

I find many of the Lycopodium patients they will bring flowers and greetings. One
of them used to send me greeting cards and flowers on many occasions. They are
extremely grateful and sensitive to gratitude. Gratitude and ingratitude are big
themes of Lycopodium. For me these things are highly confirmatory.

Thuja

In Thuja, you find the feeling of “delicacy”

For example: that my body is very delicate. It is very brittle, it can be easily
damaged. It can be easily hurt. I have to be extremely cautious or careful. This
feeling comes across even in the way they mention their cravings. For example
they might say, if you ask them ‘What do you like?’ they may say, ‘I like this but I
am afraid it can hurt me. Doctor, I hope your medicine is not too strong because
my body may not be able to take it. ‘

‘It’s like the medicine may be good for everybody else but my body being more
delicate, more sensitive, more fragile may get hurt by slightly stronger
medication’. These are the ways they manifest and from these observations you
are able to gather their internal perception even much more than the enquiry
process.

Ignatia amara

In Ignatia, I often find the patients are often laughing or smiling when they are
mentioning anything serious like their ailment or their grief or even the death of
somebody. For example they may say, ‘My husband (laughs) he is not well now a

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 4

days (laughs).’ ‘I have too much pain (laughs).’ This kind of smiling or laughing
while narrating serious things is a good clue for Ignatia.

The rubric is:

Laughing: serious matters, over.

Talk 21 Full Case example 1:

One case that we sent across to you may be you had a chance to go through it is
of a man who registered for treatment on 11th July 2005 in the outpatient
department of the homoeopathic hospital.

This man came to the Out Patients Department; his case was not taken earlier.
Somehow that day the interns were not there and he had a chief complaint:

Chief complaint: A “heart problem”, he had Ischemic heart disease. He had been
advised a bypass surgery, since the angiography had detected three blocks in his
arteries. He also had ongoing renal failure, with Serum Creatinine of 2.4 mg/dl.
This made the doctors hesitant to operate on him. He is also a known case of
diabetes mellitus, hypertension and prostate.

I asked him to tell about himself.

P: I am overworked and I have some stress.

D: Can you tell me about the stress?

P: I am very particular about being on time. If someone pays me, then I should not
be late for duty. Somebody will point a finger at me. I feel guilty.

D: Can you tell me little bit more about your nature?

P: I do not lose my temper easily. If I get angry about something, I keep it inside. I
feel upset when my children do not listen to me then I feel suffocated.

He has a history of heavy smoking from the age of eighteen and also of alcohol.

This is all the description I have written down.

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 5

Analysis of the Case

By now I can recognize a few remedies from the mere appearance of the patient.
In this case, the man’s demeanor suggested decorum, and the heightened
sensitivity. Just the way he spoke, just the way he appeared. He was a man of
dignity.

Staphysagria patients are usually understated, reserved. They don’t use too many
words, but there is an air of dignity about them, that one should be careful not to
offend. He does not say, “Treat me well because I am important,” but the feeling
that you get with a Staphysagria is that you have to handle him carefully. He is
sensitive to being hurt. There is a solemnity or gravity about him.

For example:

One day a Muslim preacher came to me for treatment. When asked to

describe himself, he said, “I am a dharma-guru (teacher of spiritual philosophy).”
Normally a Muslim priest is called a “mullah”. This is not the manner in which
they normally would describe themselves. The term ‘dharma-guru’ has Hindu
roots and commands respect in India. By describing himself as ‘dharma guru’
rather than a ‘mullah’, he was projecting a dignified image of himself.

This patient feels ( our patient with the heart problem )

“I won’t go late because I should not be late for duty. I will never do anything
where someone can point a finger at me.” This is not being time-consciousness. It
is sensitivity to what others will say about him; a sensitivity to be criticized, a
sensitivity to be accused.

Staphysagria is morbidly sensitive to any slight to his dignity. He is

extremely affected by it. When his dignity is offended he wants to speak out but
he does not, because he thinks, “What will be the outcome?” and so he
suppresses his anger and suffers because of it. There is a great deal of guilt. The
word ‘control’ is very important for these people. “I shouldn’t lose control
especially of myself.”

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There is sometimes a high sexual desire which requires extreme control.

The pathology of Staphysagria is often severe in nature – cardiac problems with

triple blocks, renal failure, prostatomegaly in yhis case. In Staphysagria you can
expect cancer. It usually will not be a mild pathology.

Confirmatory symptoms of Staphysagria are usually the Psycho somatic

symptoms of anger.

Voice lost from anger

Sweating with anger

Red face with anger

Heat with anger

Trembling with anger

Ailments from indignation

Desire to strike

Respiration, difficult: anger, after

Very sensitive to what others say about her

Convulsions from being unjustly accused

You should not literally themeaning of the words “convulsions from being unjustly
accused”, but the idea is the sensitivity to be accused and if it is unjust, much
much sensitive. The patient received Staphysagria 200.

Rx: Staphysagria 200

The chest symptom improved with this potency. However, later I felt that 30th
would be more suitable in his case. When this was begun, a lot of improvement
occured in his pathology.

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The serum creatinine dropped from 2.4 mg/dl to 1.8 mg/dl, and then 1.5 mg/dl.

The blood glucose and lipid profile showed improvement and they came into
normal range.

The echocardiogram showed that his ejection fraction improving from 55% to
70%.

He continued on this remedy and took care of the future problems including some
aggravation of his renal complaint and angina but again Staphysagria and now in
LM 6 provides him continuing relief and now he is doing very well.

Observations of Children

In children particularly, observations become very very important.

I will give you some example:

Magnesium carbonicum children often seem to have no will or choice of their

own. If you place them in one position…they sit there, as if there is no choice.

Calcarea carbonica kids by contrast are interested and aware, but they will not do
much because they are afraid of being reprimanded.

Remedies from the third row are extremely sensitive of being spoken about.
When you say good things about them, they are happy. When you say anything
critical, they get very upset. Whereas

Tuberculinum simply does not bother, he is just busy destroying something or the
other.

A Tarentula child will seek your attention – will come in front of you or will come
in front of the camera.

A Carcinosin child – will remain obedient, well behaved and model children.

Phosphorus child can make direct contact with you.

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It is these kind of observations in children that help to clinch the remedy
diagnosis.

We will take another example of a case which you have probably read. It’s a case of

Talk 21 Full Case example 2:

Date: 24th December 2007

A male aged seventeen years

Profession: Dancer

Appearance: Tall, lean and wiry, and sporting a ‘funky’ look, with highlighted
spiked-up hair.

This is not common in India and especially in the Out patient department
(opd)setting, highly uncommon.

Chief complaints:

1. Recurrent colds and coughs for the past four to five years. They start with
coryza – a watery discharge from both the nostrils, with a lot of sneezing. There is
continuous repetitive sneezing. Once he starts sneezing, then it goes on for about
twenty five times. It is brought on by cold food and drinks, especially cold water.
Dust also brings it on. Once the cough begins, there are also paroxysms of
coughing, causing a dull pain in the chest.

2. Headache from exposure to the sun and on wearing a cap, for the past seven
to eight months. There is no specific character that can be attributed to the pain.
It occurs mainly in the forehead and vertex. It is better by pressure and a
massage. The moment he puts a cap on his head the headache begins.

3. Backache for the past four years and also knee pain, right more than the left.

P: When I was eight years old, I met with a severe accident. I was hit by a water
tanker. I was conscious and fully aware of what was going on, but was not able to

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 9

move my legs. I was taken to the hospital. There was no feeling (no sensation) in
both the hands as well as the legs. I was not able to sit. I remained in hospital for
three or four months. After being discharged I was confined to the bed for about
a year. Later on I gradually began to be able to move my fingers and limbs and
then I begin to walk again. From the time of this incident, I have had pain in my
back and knees. The doctors told my parents I would be on a wheel chair for the
rest of my life, but I don’t know how I am back on my legs again, and even
dancing.

D: Tell us something about your nature.

P: When I was in school I was very hot tempered. Small things would make me
angry. There was a lot of anger. If my parents or my younger sister wouldn’t listen
to me or wouldn’t do things as I wanted them to do, I would get wild. I would
start shouting very loudly or keep nagging them throughout the day and get
things done my way.

In school I would fight a lot. If somebody irritated me I would immediately

hit that person. Twice I banged my classmate’s head very badly on the desk. I
could not control my anger. Now I have grown up, things have changed. I do not
get as angry as earlier. There would be a lot of complaints about me in school. My
teachers hated me for the mischief I would cause.

In fact I was very mischievous. I would enjoy irritating others. I was not at
all afraid of any of my teachers, not even my principal. I was someone whom you
could always find at one place – the principal’s office. Everyday for some reason
or the other I would be called and fired. But still I was not affected by it.

I was good at studies till my eighth standard. I would get 90% marks most
of the time, but suddenly around that time I started losing interest and then my
scores came down to 45 to 60%. In the tenth grade, I scored 65%. I am not
interested in studying. I am just doing a graduation for the sake of acquiring a
degree.

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 10

I love dancing and music. That is my main field of interest. That is what I want to
do. I would like to work in the field of entertainment. I have so far choreographed
and organized many dance shows.

D: Can you tell us a little more about your special interests?

P: I love speed. I love to do everything very fast. I walk fast, talk fast, even eat fast.
I am very fond of speed biking. I ride my bike at a very high speed and only then I
feel very happy. I am fond of dangerous activities. I am very courageous and I
enjoy doing daredevil stunts. I feel very happy to do those things.

Also I am an extrovert, very talkative, and mix with people very easily. I would like
to have company, but since I have only just now come to this city, I don’t have too
many friends yet. So I feel very bored. I have nothing to do the whole day. I just
watch television. Then I love watching horror movies and comedies too.

D: Do you recall any significant dreams?

P: More than twice I have dreamed of cows and bulls hitting me with their horns
from behind me. They are constantly chasing and hitting me. I wake up
frightened.

I also dream of snakes.

I also get clairvoyant dreams. Whatever I see in my dreams happens the next day.
One day I saw this big python in my dream. The next day while I was riding my
bike, I saw the same snake sitting in the middle of the road. I stopped, took a
photograph of it and then went on.

I also have dreams in which I am winning something.

Physical Generals

Desires: Cold water, Sweet3, salt3. Adds extra salt on his food

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Analysis of the case;

As soon as he walks in, you notice that he is different. He styles his hair in such a
manner as to be noticed, to attract attention. This is a feature which is found in
insect remedies, but especially in spider remedies. They dress to grab attention.
This is one difference I found between snakes and spiders remedies. Because,
snakes usually do not like to draw attention to themselves. They are secretive and
hide their true nature. Attention for them carries with it a risk of exposure and
the loss of secrets.

Spiders are so intent on public attention that they can even be shameless.
They may use street language or wear anything or say anything. There is not so
much dignity about them.

In the course of the case taking by the intern, the patient paints a typical picture
of himself as a spider remedy. The main elements are – rapid reaction that cannot
be controlled, a propensity for mischief; particularly enjoying irritating and
teasing others. In spiders, the mischief is aimed to provoke other people. He does
everything fast – walking, talking, eating. There is a love of speed. To confirm the
sensation of the spider is the love for dancing and music to the extent that it rules
his choice of profession. Additionally there is the pleasure derived from
‘dangerous, daredevil’ stunts. One can sense the high energy pattern experienced
by this patient just from this recorded description of himself.

Tarentula hispanica is one of only two remedies in the rubric

‘Dream: chased by a bull’

It is a remedy purportedly prepared from the Wolf Spider. However, homoeopath

Agnes Flour writes that “the provings of Tarentula hispania as mentioned by Allen
actually correspond more to those of the Mediterranean Black Widow -
Latrodectus tredecimguttatus.”

Confirmatory symptoms of Tarentula Hispania in the case are:

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Desire for dancing

Dream: chased by bull

Rx: Tarentula hispania 1M

The first doses gave him immediate relief, and then he had another bout of his
respiratory problem. However, in the next few months, the remedy was repeated
on three occasions. Seven months into the treatment he experienced a lot of
improvement in his mental symptoms. The headaches reduced. By the end of a
year, the recurrent colds were reduced in intensity and frequency. He had
eruptions of boils on his back which then subsided. The pain in the back also
began to subside. One-and-a-half years into the treatment, he has improved in all
his complaints, including his emotional state.

Case Example:

A similar situation, my colleague Dr Meghna took the case of a child. The father of
this child is a television personality. He was telling the case of the child. But in the
case of narration of his child, he was so restless and so impatient with the child
and with himself and was quite bossy. He didn’t seem to have any space for the
child. He would barely complete a sentence.

Just this entire restlessness, this impatience and this propensity towards dancing
gave us a clue for Tarentula. When he came for his own case, I asked him what his
interest and hobbies are? And he says, “I don’t like to read film magazines.” I
asked him, “What about it?” He says, “It’s all sexual gossip. But this happens all in
the film world.But this also happens everywhere. I have seen (he says)
conservative women. Their husbands go to work, and these women go on to
social networking site and they invite other men into their house and they do
anything with them. And in the evening they are conservative again. They wait for
their husband like any other women. And he says, ‘I think a lot of woman are like
that, except for my wife.” I said, “Are you sure?” He said, “Yes, but can we be sure
of anything?”

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So what he was doing was actually projecting on somebody else, the qualities of
high sexuality and secretiveness or cunning. He needed of course Tarentula. And
it turned out to be the same remedy.

An example of the type of behavior/mischief in Tarentula is given in a specific

proving I think, where there is a scene of an old woman. She is lying sick in a
hospital room. (it’s not a proving, it’s a case) and the nurse goes out of the room
and she hears a crash…many things have fallen. And when the nurse goes
back…she sees the old woman lying down there innocently, as if she has done
nothing and the whole cupboard has been thrown on the floor. This is the type of
cunning, quick, impulsive mischief that Tarentula is capable of.

I want to talk to you little bit about:

The Importance of Curiosity

Curiosity is one of the main features of an inquiring mind. Instead of focusing

always on sensation and the experience, the physician must also develop or have
a curiosity about the person himself. That kind of curiosity yields the best
symptoms. It is extremely indirect, and not a direct questioning.

For example:

I am very curious about people’s names. What does it mean? What does it mean
to them? Who gave them the name? etc

I am curious about their lives. What did they do? What did they study? What
have they gone through?

And in the narration of just these incidents, things in their life, just the curiosity;
many many things come out and they usually tell us the exact perception of the
patient.

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 14

I will give you one example:

Case Example :

A woman used to come to me for treatment for many years and one day she
brought her husband with her and the husband says to me, “I need an
appointment from you and today you must give me an appointment.” I said ‘Tell
me about this a little bit more. I must give you an appointment today, why must I
give it to you today? ’ this was my curiosity. He says, ‘You know in Bombay
recently there was a terrorist attack. And the entire hotel which was called one of
the big hotels was attacked by terrorists and they kind of killed a lot of people
there.’ He said, ‘I was one of those hostages, one of those people involved or one
of those people who were caught in that terrorist thing.’ So I was curious. So I said
‘can you tell me what happened?’ because I was very curious of this incident what
happened. He said, ‘well these people just came to the restaurant , they took us
all from the restaurant, they took us all to one of those top floors and then one of
the terrorist, he phoned a man who was his boss, God knows where he was sitting
and he said what shall we do with these people? And the man said, “Just kill
them.” So they took a gun and fired all of us and I just fell down. He said, ‘Luckily I
was not shot. But there were bodies above and below me.’ And he says, ‘I knew I
shouldn’t move i have to play dead. There was one guy who was alive and I told
him don’t move. I remained in that exact position for a couple of hours. Then
some help came, the security people came, they took me to the hospital and
when they took me in the ambulance and when i got out I asked the guy, “How
much do I pay you for this?” I went to hospital and said ‘what’s wrong with you, I
am fine no problem’ and I walked out of the hospital, I went to the shop which
sells mobile phone card because I had to re-charge my mobile phone and I went
home.

And I said to him, ‘what was the effect of the whole thing on you?’ he said,
‘Nothing. People keep asking me and I say nothing because nothing was the effect
on me.’ And I said, ‘Why do you want to see me as a patient for? Why do you
want an appointment for?’ he said, ‘well the only thing I have is some numbness
in the back of my head.”

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Just from the narration I knew his remedy was Opium. He did very well with it.

The whole story of his case was the idea to be in control of oneself at a time of
shock and horror. And that’s how normally he is. Nothing affects him. Shock and
horror, with anesthesia and numbness. It’s as if nothing touches him. The pain in
horror don’t touch him.

Rubrics:

Complaints, doesn’t have any

Painlessness, at the time when there should be pain

And

Ailments from fright, shock with.

After taking Opium 1 M, his numbness gets better. And then what happened like
a couple of few months later, I don’t remember, one of the parents of a colleague
who died came to Mumbai. And he escorted these people to that spot where the
colleague had died. And at that time he broke down, because then he could feel
emotional and this brought the whole experience to completion.

So our observation of human behavior and curiosity will show us important things
about the person. We have to understand what is the typical behavior of that
person and that will tell us their experience or their sensation. If you don’t
complete this aspect, case-taking will remain incomplete. What the person says
has to match with what he does that is important. Sensation and function are two
sides of the same coin.

Curiosity versus casual inquiry.

Curiosity that we spoke of is of two types –

1. Curiosity about finding out the remedy for the person. This I would call as a bad
curiosity

2. Is curiosity about finding out about the patient. This is good curiosity

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So very often I find myself simply asking the person ...why did you do this and why
did you not do that?

I want to know how the patient’s mind function, how does he act?

One lady says, “My husband is troubling me a lot. He tortures me, he bullies me.
He does this, he does that.” I ask her, “ If that’s the case why don’t you leave him?
Why did you make this choice?” then I try to hear, what, how does her mind
work? This is simple curiosity, simple common sense. Simply wanting to know
how the person lives, how the person thinks, how the person feels?

For example a patient may say, ‘I don’t want to get the surgery done that’s why I
come to you.’ My question will be, ‘Why don’t you want to get the surgery
done?’

In one case a patient who had varicose vein, he says, ‘I don’t want to get the
surgery done because I don’t have money for it and I have to dependent on my
children though I don’t want to dependent on my children.’ So I said, ‘tell me
about depending on your children?’ So it’s simple curiosity. Because for him
financial independence and dependence was the main theme or the issue. The
remedy was Calcarea flour.

I will give you some more case examples from practice:

Case example :

A man came to me and sat down in front of me with an air of understated dignity.
You see that this man was not talking or boasting about himself but he had a lot
of dignity about him. That commanded a lot of respect. I find that people from
the Sixth Row which is the Barium, Aurum, Plumbum, Platinum this row, Mercury
are understated. It is the fifth row people, Argentum, Palladium they want to
make a bit of a show. This man did not say who he is or what he is? When I asked
him, ‘Tell me about what is the stress in his life, he said you know my stress is that
I have some work stress because I have some time bound programs which I need
to complete. And I asked him, ‘tell me about these time bound programs what

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 17

kind of projects are you talking about? He says, ‘Well, I have to build a city within
three years.’ He was talking about building a whole city! But the way he said it, it’s
as if it did not really matter, that he could do it. This was the measure of his
miasm. He mentioned a couple of projects that were huge, which he had
completed before time. He said if he has to complete a project, he is working for
the government, a government functionary. He said, ‘when I do a project there’s
not enough money and I need money there, then I go to the main minister, the
chief minister of the state and I tell him that either I get the money today or
tomorrow or I don’t do this project anymore... finish.’ And he says, ‘Because they
know I am the only one who is capable of completing that project the money is
granted immediately.’ That’s why he says, “They call me Bulldozer.” All this what I
m saying to you was stated without drama and without ego. The pressure that he
was carrying on his shoulder was tremendous and he carried it with ease. The
remedy he got was Osmium – the one who breaks or fights or resists obstacles.

So it’s not always necessary to always put the patients through a questioning
session. Sometimes if you keep asking on a particular or persisting on just a
particular experience, experience, experience the whole vision becomes a little
distorted. Sensation is the totality of experience and experience determines who
the person is. So if you understand who the person is who is with you, you are
already understanding his experience or sensation, that’s the reason I am
emphasing in this case about simple observation, curiously hearing the patient
rather than persistently questioning or probing into the experience.

Talk 21 Full case example 3

Another case also which you have probably read it already:

A male aged fifty-six years who came in February 2008

Chief complaints:

1. Urticaria and angioneurotic oedema: There is itching all over the body for the
past seven months, especially on the ankles, forearm and shoulders. The itching
got worse after they got the pest control procedures (pesticides) done in his

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 18

house. He has been taking massive doses of anti-histamine tablets daily without
much effect. He also took homoeopathic treatment.

2. Floaters in the eyes for the two-three months.

3. Increased urging for urination

Disease history: In the past he had angina and had to undergo angioplasty. He
had Bell’s palsy and has diabetes mellitus and hypertension at present. He has
also Irritable bowel syndrome.

Excerpts from the case record:

He has Dreams about traveling, of snakes, sexual pleasure. He dreams of being in

Europe and holidaying in Switzerland, a very nice place in the mountains.”

Physical Generals

Craves: fruits3

In the case record form, he writes about his life situations

He says,

“I believe I am a professionally successful person and I could leave a high profile

job at my will and start my own business which is also doing well. I have a very
charming, loving wife who has allowed me to pursue and excel in my chosen
profession. We have a respectful and caring relationship. We have good friends
but most of them are jealous of the success and our family bonding.

Q: How does future look to you? (asked in the questionnaire form)

P: It is very exciting and secure, it will only get better.”

In the interview, when asked about his nature, he said, “I am a people’s man. I
like everything organized, I am very passionate about what I do...I can’t take ‘No’
as an answer…I am very efficient. I like challenges, like any difficult business
situation requiring extraordinary planning and communication skills. I like to have

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 19

an efficient organization of meticulous performance which involves much
planning and understanding and an analytical mind to foresee problems and to
preempt those problems. Whenever there is a job difficult to achieve I start with
full confidence. Sometimes I feel isolated like in a tower in the mid ocean.”

I asked him about his interests and hobbies. He says, “I like art… Art is that which
is created by human hand with passion and skill.”

As he spoke further, he said, “It is important to not to be arrogant which is to

make others feel that you have arrived. It feels like you are belittling them.” He
said he is very comfortable with public speaking

In my Experience of this patient my impression was that he is a very self assured,

egoistic person but on the surface always smiling and friendly. Remedy he
received ..

Rx: Palladium LM 8

Analysis of the case

The main thing we see is the confidence that he has in himself in his ability to
start something new, to leave his job and to do a new thing and be very
successful. There are predominantly qualities of the Fifth Row here, which is
about:

Facing a new problem to find out a new solution

Performance

Being appreciated

Analyzing, inventing, devising, researching, skill

Creativity in the context of inventing and finding a new solution

In his interest, we find that he likes art and describes it as creative. We also find
him very successful, which is the theme of Column 10:

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 20

“I am capable of facing challenges. I do not need others.”

“I am successful.”

Rubrics:

Ambition – increased

Contemptuous

Delusions - forsaken; is

Delusions - tall - he or she is tall

Egotism

Follow-up

He continued for a year and slowly his allergic problems, urticaria and other
problems subsided significantly.

Talk 21 Full case example 4:

Another case example: (also what you have)

The clinic

A fifty year old man came to me in 1993 with the following complaints:

1.Constipation since childhood

2.Trachoma in eye since childhood

3. Acidity only after eating deep-fried food

4. Skin trouble – Ringworm infection in the groin.

5. Multiple fat nodules (Lipoma) in his body.

6. Back and knee problems.

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 21

He is obese and has oedema in his lower lids.

About his mind state:

He is very anxious regarding his health, fear of robbers, of height, of pain and pain
in disease. He would be anxious and doubtful about the house doors being closed
at night.

He is impatient about everything, like a queue that is not moving, about people
not understanding when he tries to explain.

He is very attached to a spiritual ashram, which he visits frequently. He is

financially comfortable and wants to live longer in the ashram longer, but can’t do
it.

There is a dream in which he is trying to go way from a leper. He says, “I cannot

run away but they cannot catch me. I am either too slow or too fast, there is some
activity in legs; I cannot go completely away from them. I am still at the
approachable distant yet out of their reach.”

Analysis of the case:

What you find in the chief complaint and other problems are that they are of a
chronic nature, yet not life- threatening. This gives a strong basis of the sycotic
miasm.

However, he wants to overcome them with the treatment and he hopes to find
the solution, this gives us a psoric miasm element in the case.

With regard to his spirituality he wishes to go and stay at the ashram but he can’t
go so he keeps going and coming back, there is an alternation. Similarly in his
dream the situation is not one full of hopefulness that he is able to get away from
it, and also it is not that they are able to catch him, so there is a sense of ‘can i do
it or can i not’, there is always an alternating state of being – “Can do it or can I
not?” The doubtful is spread across his life, whether it is in his pathology, life, in
his dreams etc. His miasm is ringworm. This is confirmed also by the chronic
fungal skin infection of ringworm. Remedy given to him was ringworm itself.

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 22

Rx: Ringworm, in frequent doses.

Which I have prepared myself sometime some years ago from the skin scarps of a
patient with fungal infection of ringworm.

This remedy took care of all his problems - acute and long lasting issues. In the
whole course of these years his mind and body have shown significant
improvement and his entire mind conflict seems to have resolved.

Talk 21 Full Case example 5:

Another case which also supplied to you:

A forty- four year old lady comes to the clinic.

Profession: House wife and also helps in family Business

She was referred by a colleague who was treating her and she came with fever.
This fever had lasted for six to seven months. Every night she would have
temperature, she would feel weak and she cannot do anything. She had
measurable temperature and she was subjected to every kind of medical testing.
They did not find anything. She continued to have the temperature. Antibiotics
did not help. She got the fever for three-four months. So this time she said, “I am
not going to take any modern medication, only homoeopathy.”

So I asked her ‘tell me about it.’ And so she described the fever with temperature
rising to 102 degree in the evening. Thirst had increased. The taste in the mouth is
bitter and the fever also increases during her menstrual periods. Lot of pain in the
legs, she feels like banging them.

Regarding herself she said:

“I don’t feel confident about myself. I am always on my toes doing work; I work
almost 14-18 hours all the time…I am a perfectionist, responsible and dutiful.”

She described a stressful situation, about which she said, “Everything went hay
wire, I had a very hard time to put all these things in to place.”

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 23

She stays in a joint family, I treat the entire family and everybody has some
problems at this juncture. But she is always calm, composed and handles the
situation every time. She has taken up the responsibility of house and office and
she does her best. She is almost like a pillar in the family, balancing everything.
She is very much concerned about everybody.

In the Dreams – Things going out of control and have to put them back. She has to
keep the control in her house and in her work.

Physical generals:

Desires: sweets2, salty2

Analysis of the Case:

In my observation – this lady always comes across as very well mannered. She
never raises her voice, always speaks softly and in spite of so much fever and so
much prolonged, she would hardly complain, would never show anxiety and
would state her symptoms clearly. You felt the pressure, because the fever was
going on and on, not getting controlled. It almost looked like it was life-
threatening. It was like something was going horribly wrong, but nobody knew
what it was. Anyone who treated her would feel the pressure, but she herself
would not put pressure on you. Always patient, always accepting and always
reporting her symptoms very clearly even after months of fever, she would still
speak calmly and clearly, telling her symptoms on phone without a single
complaint or a question to you. A sober, non-anxious way she would calmly tell
you her symptoms, without impatience. I believe anybody else in that situation
would have lost their head long ago.

Everybody in her family relies on her. Her husband, her sister-in-law, her mother-
in-law. After handling this family, she goes to work. In her business, people find in
her a shoulder to cry on. She is busy sorting out other people’s problems.

She handled the whole family without any complaints or without showing to
anyone, how much pressure there was on her. Her mind is constantly busy and

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 24

sleepless with these thoughts, but if you meet her, you will never come to know
her internal state, always a smile on her face, calm on the exterior.

Rubrics in her case:

- Responsibility strong

- Fastidious

- Sympathetic

- Desire sweets

- Desire salt

The remedy is Carcinosin.

References from Materia medica

Foubister D.M. ‘Carcinosin Drug Picture’ you get this following quotation:

‘…. we gained the impression that in addition to the “Carcinosin appearance”

there is a tendency to insomnia even in young children.”

Rajan Sankaran – ‘Soul of Remedies’

Need for perfection; to be a model of perfection

Very sensitive to reprimands

Fastidious in every sphere of life to the point of being faultless

Superhuman effort to survive

Cancer miasm:

The need to control things and the need for self-control

A feeling of disorder and the need to restore order

The task is too big, you must stretch beyond his capacity

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 25

So the remedy given to her was:

Rx: Carcinosinum 1M

Now it’s very interesting that with Carcinosin 1M, the temperature decreased
and she improved significantly. But on:

26th November 2005

She had a dream. She said, “There are some dogs and they form a club. There are
many dogs all black dogs. And all the other dogs were pouncing on one dog. One
kid is missing, and suddenly I see a kid’s body fall out with the left hand full of
flesh and blood and flattened out. I see my father fully wounded.” When I asked
about the dreams she said “so many things happening at a same time…How to
manage this situation?”

So here again you had the same theme of too many things and the need to
control or manage. “Multiple things to do, a lot of capacity needed, too many
jobs to be done.”

This was her constant feeling inside. With Carcinsoin 1M to make the long story
short she improved beautifully with the fever, she did very very beautifully and
this remedy even now helps her if she has any problem or so.

So for me, the internal sensation and external behavior of the person are one and
the same.

Sensation and function are two sides of the vital force. One is the experience, the
other the action. If you itch, you must scratch. Whether you approach it from the
side of itching or the side of the scratching, you must have the same thing.

I believe our case-taking must focus on Sensation as well as Function. The healing
should happen at the level of sensation as well as function. The person must
become less restless, less angry, less weepy, less everything.

Aphorism 9 says – in the healthy condition of man…there is a harmonious balance

as regards both sensation and function.

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 26

Talk 21 Full Case example 6:

Another Case example 6 of this talk:

In the outpatient department

A young boy aged nine years came on 26th September 2005

Chief complaints

1. Headache; pain in the vertex, worse on exertion.

2. A slow learner with delayed milestones from the age of four years. Teething,
talking and walking was delayed. The IQ was low. He finds it very difficult to
concentrate.

His father, who accompanied him, gave the following symptoms:

He said:

“His head was big at birth and then he grew slowly. He is very irritable and finds it
difficult to concentrate on his studies. One has to explain the lesson to him over
and over. He cannot understand things. He is very childish, won’t go to school
alone. He wants someone to accompany him every day. He doesn’t seem know
what is happening to him. He also feels weak. He does not like to mix with people,
though he is not really shy. He is very quiet, reserved. He weeps very easily on
being scolded and gets angry on small matters. He is very sensitive and says, “I am
dumb. I don’t have any brains. Everybody laughs at me. No one is my friend. With
whom shall I play?”

If anyone says ‘hi’ or ‘bye’ to him, he does not react. He looks almost blank,
as if he has not heard or doesn’t understand. He stares. If one has explained to
him what a cycle is, he will understand at that moment. A few days later he looks
at it as if it something new and asks about it all over again.

He is very sensitive to noise. He has headache aggravates with noise, like that of
the television. He says, “Why is this world so noisy? Why isn’t it quiet?”

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 27

He has a number of fears. He wants to escape and to run away. There is a
recurrent dream of falling into a pit and being eaten by a crocodile.”

There is a lot of sweating of the occiput.

The psychiatrist diagnosed it as “learning disability dyslexia” with query “Absent

seizures”.

Analysis of this Case:

While the child had a low IQ and slow mental development, what was
characteristic about him was the manner in which it manifested...the blank,
staring look, the lack of reaction. It is not a low ability as such, but the low ability
was coming from an inability to react. His face would be completely blank. He
wouldn’t even know what you are saying. This lack of reaction is a kind of
numbness or anesthesia. The eyes would see and the ears would hear, but the
brain would not register what was happening. When his friends said ‘hi’ or ‘bye’
to him, he would not react. He would see a cycle and try to understand it one day.
But a few days later it would be as if he was seeing it for the first time. The earlier
learning did not register.

His Senses were blunt and Responses were sluggish

The staring was vacant, eyes wide open

And there is a rubric also:

Things look new

So if you simply take these rubrics, you get the remedy which is Helleborus niger.

Helleborus is apathetic, blank and non-reactive. It is as if he can see, but it is not

registering. He sits and says or does nothing. Here the main story is sensitivity and
reactivity. Sensitivity alternates with complete numbness. This numbness is very
intense in Helleborus.

By contrast Baryta carbonica is reactive and incapable.

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 28

The Confirmatory Rubrics of Helleborus niger are:

Stupid staring

Sees, hears, tastes imperfectly

Eyes wide open, insensible to light

Rx: Helleborus niger 1M

The patient was given Helleborus niger 1M. A month later there was increased
perspiration and he was exhibiting more anger and weeping easily. The remedy
was repeated once in about four or six weeks a few times. After about six months
there was much improvement in his physical and emotional state. The headaches
were significantly better and the frequent weeping subsided. The parents
reported that there was an increased ability to understand and think. The remedy
was repeated when indicated, usually once in about two months. About two years
under the treatment the improvement became significant. Almost all his physical
complaints ceased and his mental abilities progressed considerably.

Another year of treatment later his parents reported that he was able to
concentrate and do his work as other children of his age were doing. He had been
advised occupational therapy by the psychiatrist, but they felt the improvement
with the homoeopathy was so significant that the occupational therapy was not
required. They were satisfied with his behavior and progress. He even got more
proficient in Mathematics.

I would like to talk a little bit about:

The importance of detailed enquiry

One must really go into the nuts and bolts of the issue; not assuming anything.

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 29

I would like to give an example:

There is a patient that I am giving the remedy Laurocerasus to. Once she
mentioned that she was very afraid that her daughter, she had a very young
daughter. That her daughter, some harm would befall her daughter. When I asked
more specially she said that her daughter could get raped because she had read
some new reports about rape. So I asked her, I said, “I don’t want to offend you,
but it’s important for me to know. But can you tell me please what is your picture
of a rape?”

So it’s very interesting because what does rape have to do with Laurocerasus?
Laurocerasus comes from the Rosaceae family and in this family the main feeling
is of some sudden suffocation, something is just coming and suddenly suffocating
you.

So she said, “In my imagination, in a rape a person pushes you against a wall and
it feels as if the breath is suddenly being choked out of you.”

So it’s very very important that you should not stop simply she says, ‘I am afraid
my daughter will be raped, we should not stop there. We have to go into the
experience of it.’

For Example: I have a colleague Dr Ashok Borkar, who in a patient's dream, was
that there were terrorists on the ground floor and she was running up the stairs
and there was some fear. And then he asked ‘describe this dream a little bit more’
and as the patient kept on describing the dream the running upstairs became like
crawling upstairs. The crawling upstairs became crawling without the limbs. The
entire description of that movement up the stairs was a clear indication of that
remedy. This is just fantastic.

The physical symptoms, the modalities and the sensations that we elicit should be
done to the finest possible detail. That yields us the most peculiar symptoms. We
have to keep our mind ready to be focused on what is strange and not accept
what is common. In everything there should be an individuality, a strangeness.
That is exactly how our Materia medica and repertory are composed.

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 30

For example: a person is abusive, don’t stop there. ‘Describe exactly this abusive
nature’. And then the patient will describe and then you will get the rubric like this:

Abusive, scolds until the lips are blue, the eyes are staring and she falls down fainting

Such is the exactness of the observation and the description. That is the
description of the remedy Moschus. You have to ask them to describe exactly
what happens, the exact quality.

One of the milestone cases that I treated was a lady who came and stood in my
office and even before she sat down, she pointed a finger at me and she said, “If
you are going to record my case on video, I do not want my case to be taken, I am
leaving right away.”

This is the first observation about this patient and I said ‘Yes please sit down, I will
not record your face, just record your voice. Tell me only this much, why did you
say this that is if you record I will not want? What is your problem?” and then she
says, “It doesn’t matter to me if people I don’t know things about me. I don’t
want people who know me to know even the smallest thing about me that I don’t
want them to know. For example: it can be as simple as that I like sweets. But if I
don’t want them to know they shouldn’t know it” and then I said, ‘Describe this a
little bit more’ and she said,” This used to happen when I was dating. I went out
with a man and I would have food with that person in the restaurant, I would get
some spasm because if I had feelings for him, his feelings would be revealed and I
didn’t want him to know that I have feelings for me, so I simply avoid going out
with men.” I said, “Then what happens if somebody knows things about you that
you don’t want them to know?” she said, “Then they have power over me, then
they can betray me.”

And her remedy was Hyoscyamus

Delusion betrayed

or

Fear to be betrayed

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 31

It’s a huge whole case and I am just pointing out specific parts of it, emphasizing
how the inner experience and the state comes out from something simple that
does not want to be recorded on video and how her inner experience and outer
observation just presenting two sides of the same picture. How they go hand in
hand and how we need to enquire and observe at the same time.

This idea of getting to the bottom of anything is actually the winning strategy. But
when you get to the bottom of something, it should not be seen in isolation. It
should be seen in connection with everything else in the case.

Grilling a patient and asking them to show the hand gesture can be very one-
sided.

And when you get to something there and ignore the rest of the case, you are
making a huge mistake.

I want to give some more thoughts about understanding who the person is:

Suppose you describe an object...what does an object have? An object has a

certain color, a certain shape, certain size, a certain consistency, a certain weight,
a certain taste, a certain quality. In the same way a patient’s state has all these
dimensions. Yet it is one thing and not many things. You are describing one thing.
You are not describing different objects. The state is one, dimensions are many.

For example, you look at a cashew nut...you see it is white, it is hard, it is of a

certain size. There are so many features here. It has a certain taste, it has a
certain use. So you have to look at all these together to understand what it is.

You can’t separate one feature from the other. For example: if I say ‘hard’ and
you think of a diamond; it doesn’t work.

So what are these features? I can enumerate 9 such features straight away. May
be that will help us a little to know what are the dimensions of a given experience,
of a given case, of a given person.

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 32

9 features

The first of these 9 features:

1. Pace – the miasm

2. Physical and mental characteristic symptoms.

3. Modalities, including the exciting cause.

4. The nature and behavior of that person, as described by him.

5. The sensation, in terms of kingdom and subkingdom.

6. The life situation, the life story and dreams- the delusion level. Because we
know the person creates his own story, his own dream, his nightmare.

7. The kind of pathology he has. What is that saying to us? What does the
pathology mean to the patient?

8. Our observation...of the entire behavior of the patient, as well as the

comments from his relatives and his friends. The way the patient even fills up
the case record form. Whom does he bring with him for the appointment?
What questions does he ask? What does he need to know? What are his
concerns and areas of sensitivity?

9. The patient’s peculiar predilections, his tendencies, his obsessions.

For example: I had a patient whose favorite occupation was to collect soda water
bottle caps.

What is it that makes him do that? What’s behind it?

The patient’s state, the experience, the sensation, the vital sensation is that in
which all these multiple features that I enumerated come together. And even if
one thing is left out it gives doubts.

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 33

Because, the secret is that whatever the patient says is not an isolated feature, it
should be looked at in relation to every thing else in the case. The cashew nut has
different features...size, origin, color etc. But yet, it is one thing.

So don’t split up the features.

If the patient says, “White,” I am looking at it in terms of the pace at which he

expresses the word. I am firmly tied up by all the features that I already know. My
feet are rooted on the ground. I find that many practitioners tend to take off on a
tangent, from any one aspect, and make that one thing the whole thing. What
about the pathology, what about the behavior? What about the observation? Can
you understand all that from that one thing you took off to?

Another thing...if you go into the depth of any one aspect of the case, it will
automatically connect to you to the other aspect. So either you can do one thing,
you can gather all the different aspects separately ...or you go into one thing if
you look at the pace for example: modalities, characteristics, everything will come
automatically. So there are two ways of approach of a case.

One way is to gather separately the different aspects of the case and the second
way is to go deep into one and when you go deep into one it will automatically
connect you to with the other aspects.

So if you go for example into another modality, it will connect you with the
sensation, with the pace, with the behavior, with everything. Because it’s one.
Now which approach shall we take, should we ask separately and gather the
information one after the other or just go into the depth of one. This depends on
the patient, not on you. So if you gather from different sides of the mountain, you
are getting the same view. You take one expression and take it up where you get
the whole view...or you look around. So either you go to the top of the mountain
and you can see the whole thing from there or you collect a view from here, here,
here, here, here, here, here, here and by collecting these different views, you
make the whole picture of the mountain. The Pace, pathology, behavior you
construct the totality. And then you see the unity in this totality, a unity that

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 34

comes by looking at the sensation and the miasm.

So if the patient for example says, ‘white’, you cannot take white isolatedly. You
have to look at ‘white’ in the backdrop of ‘small’ which he has said earlier, this is
the secret.

So cashew nut is ‘White and small’. So you may get small first and when you come
to white, you may say ‘Oh white, which is small’ otherwise you go off on a
tangent.

This approach is comprehensive. It also includes our enquiry into hand gestures.

Because we have to be all time be aware of what was before, what has preceded
it. When patient takes you to something you cannot forget something he had said
before.

One striking aspect could change everything

If something comes up during case taking that is so striking that it challenges the
entire pattern that you have imagined, you have created for the patient, the
backdrop, you have created a backdrop with the pace, the modalities, this that
etc and something which is forming a pattern but suddenly the patient reveals a
feature that is so striking, that it challenges the entire idea that you have
constructed so far. Your mind must be open to it. That is this other secret.

Suppose you have a patient who exhibits all the features of the sycotic miasm. He
has avoidance, he has anticipation, he has acceptance, you think this is sure
sycosis no problem. Then you ask for the dream and the patient says, ‘I took a
knife and started stabbing again and again and again’, this should make you
question your assumption of the whole backdrop of the sycosis that you have
created.

Sometimes you get something that strikes out, contrary to everything that has
gone before. It challenges your prejudice. You have to have flexibility to remain
open to it. One aspect could change the entire thing.

A question was asked on the website: Can a homoeopath observe himself?

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 35

A colleague shared with me how he came to understand himself a little bit.

He said, “I will tell you a situation. I will tell you about a dream that I had. I had a
very intense dream as follows – I saw a cousin come into the house, sitting there
and ordering my maid servant to cook for him chicken and meat. And I feel very
upset, thinking, “How can he come, sit in my house, order my maid, and that too
ask to cook for a dish which I never allow in my house, in my kitchen, which is a
non-vegetarian dish!” Me being a vegetarian .He is doing something against my
very most core being, and this man is just coming and doing that. And I felt I
couldn’t do anything about it.

I got up in the morning and asked myself if there was an incident in the day that
had an impact on me? Because usually when you have an intense dream,
sometimes they are a reflection of your perception of something that happened
that day.. could be.

And I saw that I had gone home in the afternoon. I rang the bell and my mother-
in-law she opened the door. Normally she doesn’t live with us, but for some
reason she was there. She is welcome, but what I found is when she comes she
takes control of everything in the house, including the maid, and including
everything and she decides what is to be done”

So this is what my colleague said. An isolated incident and an isolated dream may
be connected with this incident. But then we have to see what the general
expression is.

So the colleague introspected and asked himself, ‘What is it that he experiences

when somebody comes to his house and does what they want ... to his house?’
and he understood what he was very sensitive to was privacy. He doesn’t want
anybody to come into the space which he feels is his private space. He is sensitive
to noise. So he shuts the room and nothing can come in except noise. He sees
noise as a direct intrusion into his privacy. Once in a hotel, people were making
noise in the next room. He felt angry and helpless to do anything about it,
thinking they are more powerful than me and intruding into my space. So that’s

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 36

what he understood by introspection. He understood that this was his sensitive
area.

From our dream or experience, it is possible for us to go deeper and deeper, and
start seeing a pattern in our whole life. This pattern can be put into a kingdom or
a miasm. But what is important is to see the pattern. From any crisis situation,
one needs to put the intellect aside and to see what is the experience in that
situation. You will find that the experience in the crisis situation is common to
most other situations as well. When you see the same experience in different
situations, this becomes the core element of your being.

One way to go into yourself is in crisis situations or in dreams, and to go deeper

and deeper into them.

The second thing of course is to observe your own behavior. What are the
characteristics of you as a being? What makes you different? Here we need some
objectivity about ourselves and every little thing is a clue.

The totality of your behavioral characteristics should meet your sensory

perception or your sensation.

One has to objectively observe all of one’s behavior, all of one’s stress situations
and how does one react in these situations.

Objective observations of other people should also be taken into account.

So in this way, by looking at one’s dreams, by looking at one’s experience in crisis,

by looking at one’s behavioral characteristics objectively about yourself and
taking into account the objective observations of the other people, then one
gathers a totality of experience and a totality of action. And when you see what’s
the common point here, then one comes to some kind of understanding of one’s
core pattern or experience. So these are the hints that I can give to you about
observing one self. But I must emphasize that this is very difficult and especially to
be objective about oneself is very difficult and I do suggest that it would be very
very helpful to have a colleague who is trained in good case taking to help you in
this process to just ask the questions one after the other and to lead you deeper

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 37

and deeper in your own experience and as you go into that description, if you
start observing the words and the gestures that you use, it’s very difficult to speak
as well as observe at the same time. If you could do that then there is some
possibility that you get a fairly, a fairly approximate idea. You may not get the
exact remedy or exact rubrics or something but you get an idea where your
pattern lies in which kingdom, in which miasm and around which area, your main
perception is.

So with these hints, I say to you Good bye, Aurevoir and all the very best in your
study in homoeopathy. I invite you to send in your comments, your suggestions,
your questions about all these talks that we are having because it’s these
questions, these comments, these suggestions that help me to know how to go
further and what areas we should explore further in our future talks.

So Good Bye for now!

Talk 21 Observation in Case Taking 38