Many of the clients I work with suffer from anxiety, it is one of my specialities.
A few years ago the mother of a 3 year old boy came to me, perplexed about her son's anxiety.
He was a happy go lucky 3 year old boy who had settled well at nursery, but had suddenly become anxious, and did not want to go to nursery any more. He was wetting himself at night in his sleep – which was very unusual as he had been ‘dry’ for over a year.
His mother had taken him to the doctors where they had checked for a urine infection, but found nothing.
The mother was at her wits end and her little boy was now having leaks during the day as well as the night for no obvious reason. She rang me, in real distress, hoping to get help for her little boy. She explained how in early October, he woke up wet one night, and this quickly became his daily pattern. He would wake up at night saying he was scared, and wanted to sleep with his parents in their bed. He needed someone with him when he went to bed at night. He went from really enjoying nursery to hiding behind his mother’s legs when she took him to nursery. This clinginess was very odd, because it was not in his nature. After a little investigation I discovered that he was scared of monsters, and then his mother told me that they had been ‘doing’ Halloween at nursery for the past 2-3 weeks. This was when the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. He had been frightened by the stories of Halloween.
On the basis of all the issues the little boy was struggling with, a remedy was selected for him and given on Oct 25. On Oct 27, his mother rang me to say that “the remedy has worked like magic! He is sleeping well, not waking up. And there have been no leaks at night or at nursery". He continued to take the remedy, and as time passed he became his happy, cheerful self again. The anxiety and fears that had led to the physical problems, had completely vanished.
This is a wonderful example of a close fit between the patient and the homeopathic remedy. What I gave was Pulsatilla, often called the Queen of Remedies. It is regarded as a pre-eminent children's remedy and is prescribed often on the basis of the nature of the child.
The speed of response astonishes me to this day! This particular remedy is used for many issues/problems, and it is the mental and emotional state, as when someone is tearful, or fearful and needing a lot of reassurance, that guides us to it's door.. When they are sick, they are very clingy and needy.
In this case, his change in behaviour from happy go lucky to being very clingy was very marked, and this was an important marker (but not the only one) for choosing the ideal remedy.
Like many other remedies its therapeutic range is very large, and it can be used for many problems if the match between remedy and patient is close.
Homeopathy can be used successfully for problems of anxiety and fear, as in the case of this young boy. It is ideal for giving to children: easy to take, palatable, and fast acting.