Animal remedies help anxiety

People who need animal remedies are usually easy to spot by how much they love animals.

by Dr. Ed Gogek — 

In homeopathy, we use every plant, animal and mineral as a remedy. People who need animal remedies are usually easy to spot by how much they love animals. In fact, they can become more upset seeing an animal hurt than a human. Moreover, their relationships with pets are as important as any human relationship, sometimes more so.

The remedy such people need is often related to an animal they are fascinated by or terrified of. A practioner cannot rely on that alone, however — especially if they are scared of snakes, spiders or cockroaches, as these types of fears are quite common. But a fear or fascination can confirm a remedy that should be tried, as in the following case:

Krista, age 9, was suffering from constant anxiety and panic attacks two to three times per week. It all started two years earlier when her mom was hospitalized suddenly for emergency surgery. Krista was taking Zoloft®, which worked for her depression, but the anxiety was still very bad.

When I asked Krista what the panic attacks felt like, she said, “It feels like a huge weight on my chest.” She focused on the word “huge.”

“I worry about everything, especially people I care about. I worry whether something bad will happen to them. And then I feel that weight and, if that weight does not go away, it feels like the world is going to end. Nothing can get better until it goes away.”

Krista also had mild symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. She reported feeling the heavy weight on her chest if she did not keep her closets and papers perfectly ordered. I asked Krista to further describe this crushing weight sensation.

She replied, “It is as big as the sky. Like the air or the sky turned into something solid and is pressing on me. I feel tiny, and it is so big,” she said spreading her hands. “It is so huge and important, it will overpower me.”

And lastly she added, “Something is pressing on me. If I cannot take a breath, I am going to die.”

This is the sensation of one’s breath being squeezed out by a python or boa constrictor. Constrictor snakes are common remedies for panic disorder.

I was already fairly certain she needed an animal remedy, since she loved animals, fed the birds, adored her dog, rescued injured critters and wanted to be a veterinarian. But she did not have any of the symptoms common to snake remedies, like an aversion to tight collars or a fear of people behind her. Furthermore, she felt anxiety for the loved ones around her, which is a characteristic found in herd animals, not snakes. Concern for others is mammalian, not reptilian.

I asked if there were any wild animals Krista really liked. There was one.

“I love to draw elephants. They are so calm and smart. I like their wrinkles and the whole way they are built,” she said. Her mother confirmed her love of elephants.

I would not prescribe a remedy based on that symptom alone, but along with the “huge weight” sensation and the anxiety for her entire family, it seemed worth trying. She was given homeopathic elephant milk, Lac loxodonta 200C.

Children recover quickly. When I saw Krista two months later, she felt calm and was sleeping better. Best of all, the panic attacks, the chronic anxiety and the huge weight on her chest were all gone.

Ed Gogek, M.D., M.D.(H), is a board-certified psychiatrist who uses both alternative and conventional treatments in Prescott, Ariz. He graduated from the Hahnemann College of Homeopathy and has studied with several of the Mumbai homeopaths. 928-443-0032.

Reprinted from AZNetNews, Volume 30, Number 3, June/July 2011.