Depression Treatment

Depression is a broad term to describe moderate to severely low mood, lack of enjoyment of life, pessimistic thinking and reduced energy, all of which impair the patient's social relationships and performance at work. Homeopathy offers remedies for all of the many different types of depression.

Reactive depression occurs in response to life events that we all face at some time. In health, the depression is short lived, but if the trauma is sufficiently deep the life force may become stuck, even for years. Here homeopathy helps beautifully with medicines such as Natrum muriaticum, Staphisagria and Ignatia for grief, with Aconite and the Opium poppy for shock, Phosphoric acid for mental and physical exhaustion, and Aurum metallicum for the effects of business failures and financial loss.

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a more serious form of reactive depression. Persons under severe and repeated stressful situations that are often life threatening, or where they are witness to such situations, such as those experienced by police officers and the military on active duty, can develop PTSD. Homeopathic medicines such as Phosphoric acid, Kali phosphoricum, Mercurius, Lyssinum and Stramonium have been successfully used in this clinic to treat this condition, where indicated.

Endogenous depression is often the deepest and most life-threatening. Here the depression is not in reaction to an obvious life event. The mood may be deep and dark; suicidal thoughts often take hold and the homeopathic treatment may involve Aurum metallicum, Aurum muriaticum natronatum, Mercurius, Arsenicum and Diamond immersion. Even in these conditions Michael Blanch has seen long-term restoration of health achieved through homeopathy, in conjunction with naturopathic principles and dietary and lifestyle changes.

Bipolar Disorder Treatment

With bipolar disorder the patient suffers mood swings. At times their symptoms resemble endogenous depression, with low moods for days or weeks at a time; at other times they may exhibit symptoms of excessively elevated mood or euphoria, called mania. Hence the old name for this problem: manic depression. The patient may become extremely mentally stimulated and creative in the manic phases, often staying up for nights on end without sleeping. Depending on the case, the homeopath may describe separate medicines for the two phases, or a medicine which covers both, such as Lachesis, Tuberculinum, Ignatia, Platina or the Lithium salts. The appropriate remedies help resolve these swings over time.

Sexual Abuse Trauma Treatment

Sexual abuse is a common occurrence in our society. Frequent homeopathic remedies required by those needing remedies to heal issues of abuse are Anacardium, Lac caninum, Thuja, Staphisagria, Stramonium, Rhus glabra and several of the gem medicines, including Black opal (pictured) and Diamond. Homeopathy excels at healing deep-seated emotional trauma from the past; but as always, we stress that the symptoms of the whole patient must be taken into account before a homeopathic medicine is prescribed.

Homeopathy and the Meaning of Life

At the heart of many mental and emotional difficulties and psychological problems is the sense of a lack of purpose in life, or the lack of spiritual meaning. Two hundred years ago the founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann wrote that the purpose of health - a state of mental, emotional and physical balance - was ultimately to pursue "the higher purpose of our existence". The system he established helps the individual achieve a state of dynamic balance, which then assists them in their search for meaning and purpose in life.

There are medicines in homeopathy that address a sense of lack of meaning and purpose directly. They are largely the elements from the periodic table that are the building blocks of the universe and our material existence. All of them were either created 13 billion years ago in the Big Bang or forged in the furnace of the stars thereafter. Those same elements are the source of every single atom in our body. Here on earth, the same elements buried in the earth's crust, under enormous pressure and temperature, have crystallised into gemstones, like Amethyst, Sapphire and Diamond that, when prepared homeopathically, can help with the most severe spiritual crises.

In any case that is treated holistically by homeopathy, even when the patient presents for a purely physical complaint, a constitutional medicine is given, which helps the patient achieve that balance on all levels. They come back not only with their physical complaints improved, but also with sense of increased mental and physical energy and sometimes a profound shift of perspective and a more positive outlook on life. Many times I have heard patient's spontaneously refer to their remedies as "happy drops".