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NOTE: There are four articles by this author on www.medicinegarden.com, front page that deal with homeopathic remedies to have on hand in case of chemical and biological attack. The articles cover:
1. Chemical attack (nerve gas attack/Sarin, VX, etc.)
2. Plague
3. Anthrax
4. E-coli
Please download these. Everything you need to know on how to find a homeopath, buy a homeopathic kit, and the remedies you need on hand, are in these articles. They are companion articles to this PTSD series of articles.
PART 3--Mercurius Viv
If you don't have a homeopath, simply call the National Center for Homeopathy in Alexandria, VA at: 1-703-548-7790 and they will help you locate a classically trained homeopath nearest to you. Or, go to: www.homeopathic.org and find a homeopath (left margin of front page "how to find a homeopath").
THE TORTURED WARRIOR--MERCURIUS VIV.
Another remedy that should be considered for PTSD where the person has lead a tortured life afterward, is Mercurius Vivus (Merc. Viv. ) There are many different types of Mercurius, which is made from potentized "Quicksilver" or mercury which is derived from cinnabar. Mercury, when broken down from this mineral, is highly poisonous. The one discussed is also known as Merc. Viv. or Mercurius Solublis Hahnemanni.. There are a number of other Mercury remedies, so do not be confused by them.
Most of us know that mercury, that shining, globule-like, silver "stuff" is used in a thermometer that rises and falls according to heat and cold conditions brought on by weather. You can take this same idea and apply it to a Merc. person--they are, quite literally, a "human thermometer" with ups and downs emotionally speaking. From a PTSD point of view, the jumpiness, the paranoia, the suspicion, the obsessive/compulsive behavior, or an absolute terror of night coming on, or their symptoms worsening during the night, this remedy should be given a good look before moving on.
To me, Mercurius Viv. personifies the wounded, tortured victim of war or any other event or atrocity of unbelievable inhumane origins. I'd like to put this remedy, along with Syphilinum, into the water of Yugoslavia. Bosnia and Serbia are, in my opinion, the very nature of Merc. Viv.--the torture, the inhumane deeds to other human beings, the twisted beliefs and distortion of religion which have fueled a hatred that knows no bounds, rules or ethics--except utter annihilation of the other group. This is Syphilis at it's finest, unfortunately--an eating out of the human soul, from the inside out, until decency is destroyed. The twisted, sick, perverted hatred which eats and festers away from the inside of us eventually begins to destroy us.
So too, with a combat vet, or a survivor of some PTSD event that has broached our reality, Merc. Viv. can reach inside that which is, quite literally, eating us alive (from the inside out), and stop the inner destruction, the inner voices from the past, and set us back on a more harmonious path within ourselves. This is a powerful constitutional remedy and one that many combat vets could use. Let's look at it in detail:
Generally speaking, Merc types are light or fair-haired. Their skin is considered unlined and smooth, with a translucent quality. With some, their can be a blotchy quality to the skin, but their flesh is always pale looking, sometimes almost a sickly white quality or an earthy, yellow/sallow complexion with puffiness beneath the eyes. Their cheeks may be red, swollen or hot. Lips are salty, dry and cracked in the right corner of the mouth.
Their skin may appear somewhat "greasy" looking, or have a dirty yellow, rough and dry surface to it. There may be a touch of arrogance to their withdrawn, watchful nature and are always serious-looking in their expression. Although there is a feeling of explosive tightness around a Merc. Viv. person, their faces belies this feeling, and they look positively unruffled and free from the every day stress or strain of Life. In fact, you could say that they look completely detached or disconnected from the stresses of life. But that's not true. Inwardly, these people absorb the stress in their own unique way. Just as we watch a thermometer's mercury constantly go up and down, so do Merc's.
On a mental level, Merc's are restless and in constant movement, along with a feeling of anxiety. They have a powerful desire for not only stability, but order. Many military and police types are Merc's, where a certain rigidity, inflexibility, order and discipline are SOP's--standard operating procedure, and this helps them feel more secure--although, their insecurity will always be present to some degree. There is a natural suspiciousness directed toward others or situations, that is inherit to a Merc--and this can be advantageous if they are in the military of police force--it can save them from potentially being killed. I've always said that a little suspicion and a tad of paranoia is healthy in today's environment where we can barely trust strangers anymore--of any age. So, Merc's have this natural equipment already in place within them.
When a person who needs Merc. Viv. is put into a situation where their vital force is pushed out of balance, this paranoia, over time, becomes like the volume on a radio: louder and louder, until finally, paranoia is all that exists in their tightly focused and limited reality.
There's an incredible well of insecurity in them, and they can appear conservative and cautious when dealing with anyone. They may appear to be slow in thinking or speaking to you, but really, they are "gauging" you with their own internal radar to "check you out" to see if you are friend or foe. On the outside, Merc looks like the "boy down the street" but inside, there's a war going on, that if not helped early in life, can become a living hell and torment they carry around inside them, later on--and this is when they can become abusive.
Usually, they are introverted, quiet, (some would say brooding) contemplative and conservative in bearing. And when they listen to you, it is a hundred percent of their focus, mentally and emotionally; almost as if they are transfixed on every word you speak. This kind of attention can be flattering (who, after all, give that much attention to anything, anymore?), but some people can react as if they feel a hunter is stalking them with this kind of undivided, powerfully focused attention, too.
Actually, what Merc. is doing is if he or she doesn't listen with all that focus and attention, they won't be able to speak! This is a keynote symptom for Merc. If they don't, their mind is scattered in twenty other directions and they'll never hear what you're trying to say, so it is their way of compensating for the rash, helter-skelter activity of their thermometer-like mental activity.
Merc.'s emotions are intense, like a Texas thunderstorm that blots out the sun on a hot summer's day across the dry expanses of that state. Anyone who has watched one of these "frog stranglers" form across the baking surface of Texas' desert, will immediately grasp and get a visual and emotional sense of what is going on inside a Merc. person every day of their life. In a powerful thunderstorm, there are huge updrafts and down drafts, just like a thermometer--just like Merc.'s emotions. They feel intensely, volcanically and are helpless to do otherwise. And isn't it interesting that chief among a Merc.'s fear is: Thunderstorms! They also fear being burglarized, health of their family, of becoming insane, fear of being poor, or fear of dying.
Then, add PTSD events or a situation or series of events on top of this, and all these symptoms become magnified to a high degree. Their fears turn up in volume, also, right along with their infamous paranoia and suspicion.
At a younger age, they may have been taught that violent expression of emotions is not good--so they put on this cool, calm, unruffled face that completely belies these horrific roller coaster feelings. They may have problems and stammer as a result, be very shy or withdrawn. They will drool in their sleep and usually have many ear or throat infections while growing up. In jamming them down deep inside themselves, where they aren't given any expression, things begin to ferment for years. At some point, all this "garbage" of dark emotions, especially anger, have to vent somewhere and some how. And this is where PTSD evens can enter the picture and rip that placid mask off. They are put into violent situations, which triggers their own, inner violence that was, up until that time, more than likely dormant.
Emotions that are either repressed or suppressed in a Merc. take on a bizarre twist: they become IMPULSES. You would never know what a Merc. is thinking or feeling until, suddenly, just like a lightning bolt out of that violent Texas thunderstorm, he will strike out at you. And when a Merc. strikes out, they can easily kill--whether it was their original intention or not. I've always said about Merc.'s that if they lash out, it isn't just to bruise a person--it's to maim them, or worse, kill them.
I've seen Merc. Viv. combat vets sleep with a gun under their pillow, or carry a military type of knife on their person at all times. The saddest of all, I saw my Merc. Viv. brother-in-law, who had been in Army Special Forces, and go through two tours of Nam, take the pistol he always slept with under his pillow, use it against his wife. He was, typical of a Merc. Viv., having a night terror of one of his 'Nam fire fights. His wife, who was awakened by his crying out and flailing around in the bed, reached out to touch and awaken him from it. He grabbed for the pistol--which he kept locked and loaded--from beneath his pillow and shot her in the face.
Later, he told the authorities that he saw a Viet Cong coming for him--not his wife's face. To say the least, my brother-in-law, was devastated by what he'd done, because he'd loved his wife deeply and she'd seen him through a number of years of 'hell' after his return from combat. Then, he was sentenced to federal prison for seven years. It's one hell of a price to pay. One that shouldn't have to be paid at all if I'd know about homeopathy at that time.
Merc. usually knows their impulses to hurt another or kill them, is wrong,so they struggle valiantly to put this societal "face" on which make every one think he or she is the boy or girl next door; so nice, so conservative, and so proper. My compassion goes out to Merc.'s--especially ones that grew up in abusive households to begin with--their path is even more hellish and even harder to try and operate within the laws and social order of their community, than it is for other Merc.'s. I find Merc. Viv. combat vets usually come out of such a household and of course, like draws like: they get the horrific battles and see the worst of human beings--and so the inner destruction goes on. The violence is just compounded in quantum leaps in them. They are a powder keg ready to ignite.
Because Merc. is struggling with all these ugly, violent emotions deep within him, they may manifest outwardly as compulsive disorders, anxiety attacks, agoraphobia, panic attacks, paranoia or other mental states of imbalance. There can also be depression and suicidal thoughts. In their later stages of imbalance, Merc. has always reminded me of a wounded or trapped wild animal who is in his cage, pacing, constantly pacing, watching you warily, his hackles up, his teeth bared, growling and completely distrusting. And they won't grow or snap--they'll bite with the intent of killing their foe or perceived enemy.
That is why, when Dr. Gail Derin did her study on (and treated homeopathically) thirty Vietnam Veterans for her thesis, The Remedies of War, that Mercurius was found to be one of the main remedies to cure Vets from that war, plus Sulphur, Nux Vomica, and Calc Carb. . Mercurius, when raised in a "war zone" such as a dysfunctional family situation, have all the hallmark symptoms of PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. And Mercurius parrots the suspicion, the distrust, apprehension, the emotional volatility (an explosion just waiting to be triggered by some small, seemingly insignificant event), as well as the paranoia.
When a Merc. person has reached the last stage expression, the symptoms are abusive in their implementation. The Merc. person can no longer contain or control their inner turmoil, rage, suspicions, paranoia or compulsiveness.
They become violently destructive with the intent to badly injure or kill the person. There is fury coupled with an impending sense of doom, homicidal or suicidal impulses , the ability to fly off the handle at the least provocation, internal agitation and a desire to escape it by traveling or running away to another state or country. Their speech is hurried, perhaps event nervous or stammering, along with an incredible restlessness--they can never stay in one place very long.
You will see an instability to their mental processes along with irresolution and it shows up as constantly changing their minds (just as a thermometer changes from moment to moment). Their anger comes out in tirades. When night comes, so does their anxieties and apprehensions rise to taunt and torture them with further mental anguish. They may perspire heavily during that time. The war they wage at night are 'inner demons' that are so hellish to them that a combat vet of PTSD can never put a name to them--but they are eating him or her up, from the inside out. Only Merc. Viv. can stop this awful inner destruction.
OTHER HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR ANGER
One of the out growths of PTSD can be anger. Particularly if the person is a Merc. Viv. constitutional. There will be times when this anger or rage will well up in them, in retracings or Hering's Law of Cure, and the homeopath has to be ready to deal with it immediately. In these situations, an acute homeopathic remedy might be Anacardium, Staphysagria, Stramonium, or Belladonna may be needed to take the 'edge'' off the rage so it's controllable this time around.
REFERENCES:
Derin-Kellogg, Gail, Remedies of War, Thesis, Hahnemann Homeopathic College, Albany, California
PTSD Part 1 of 7
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PTSD Part 3 of 7
PTSD Part 4 of 7
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PTSD Part 6 of 7
PTSD Part 7 of 7