Mental Symptoms in Homoeopathy

The mental symptoms are of special importance in homoeopathic prescribing. They reflect the deepest aspect of the patient who experiences them and the remedies which evoke them; in many cases they take precedence over general and local symptoms, even when these have constituted the original complaint; and when correctly selected and matched, they can lead to a lasting cure. The first part of this book studies one hundred and ninety-four rubrics relating to mental symptoms, drawn primarily from Kent's Repertory but also from Barthel and Klunker's Synthetic Repertory. The rubrics are given in alphabetical order, nearly always singly but occasionally in small related groups, and are discussed in modern terms, referring wherever appropriate to rubrics of other mental symptoms for contrast or comparison. The discussion is amplified by frequent reference to examples from the author's case-book. Many of the sections end with extracts of materia medica from Allen's Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica, the major source material for Kent's work. The second part consists of the unedited transcripts of six initial consultations taken by the author during clinical classes. Each of the verbatim interviews is followed by questions, discussion, repertorisation and the reasons for choosing the remedy. They are intended to show how a homoeopath may open a case, and how symptoms can come to light during the patient's first account of his or her complaint. The book has comprehensive rubric and remedy indexes.