I had an interesting discussion today with another healer who is dead set against homeopathy as it uses alcohol in its preparation. She believes that the slightest taint of alcohol will trigger addictions, which in turn are often diagnosed as bi-polar disturbances. She is a recovering alcoholic herself and I have the greatest admiration for her, but I have to disagree with her hypothesis as I believe there is only a predisposition to inherited tendencies such as alcoholism, not a guaranteed outcome.
I don't have much experience with bi-polar,but those acquaintances that I do know who have been diagnosed with it are not all alcoholics.
How do I convince her that the alcohol used in preparation evaporates? She has used the arguement that the essence of the alcohol remains as an active remedy and that each remedy is alcohol + the prepared remedy. Is she right?

Ozzie, It may not actually be possible to convince her of the safety. If you relate cases from the Materia Medica of remedies that are proven to cure alcohol addiction and she still is unreceptive then she may not be suitable for homoeopathic healing.

I have found many recovering addicts and alchoholics to be terrified of going anywhere near the thing which once ruled their life. It is not rational, and the recovery programs they are in help to reinforce this fear. Since they are repeatedly told that they CANNOT ever get well, that they are addicts forever and must be on eternal guard against even the barest hint of temptation, it is hard to reason with them.

If she is that frightened of alcohol, does she consider that it is probably in the air in restaurants, possibly in some foods, some vinegars are made from wine, most herbal remedies, on the breath of some people she meets, in many cleaning agents, many medicines? If she is that paranoid that she avoids all these things, then you probably cannot help her - although the rubric may be Fear of being poisoned, Fear to take the medicine etc.

__________________
David Kempson.<br />Dip.Homoeopathic Medicine.<br />Lecturer Australian College of Natural Therapies (Brisbane Campus)<br />Member AHA, AROH, HMA<br />Member Australian Homoeopathic Association. Member#0442.

David, I have considered for some time that my friend is a classic example of Ars.Alb. She is a perfectionist in every way and her house sparkles, she has asthma and I would love to treat her, but she won't let me. She was a workaholic as well. Soooo frustrating!!!! That would also fit with fear of being poisoned!
On a more serious note, would alcohol based medications or remedies have a disturbing effect on someone suffering from bi-polar?(she hasn't been diagnosed with this, but another friend has)

[ 20 June 2001: Message edited by: ozzie ]

Ozzie,

If you dropped a single pellet into an 8 oz. glass of water, stirred it, and then poured a tsp. of that into another 8 oz. glass of water and stirred and then asked her to sip the water, would she do it, or would she say, "No way, there's alcohol in that water!"?

Would she say, "I know there's no material alcohol there, but the energy pattern of alcohol is there!" I would say, "No it isn't! If it were, all our remedies would treat hang-overs and other alcohol problems! As it is, we rely on Nux Vomica for that. Plus, we have a remedy "Alcohol", and for anyone who's an alcoholic, it might actually cure them!"

Hopefully, there's an idea in there for you somewhere.

Snoopy

I have treated several Bi-Polar disorder patients, and all of them have had serious drug or alcohol problems. It is one of the ways they cope with their illness, and might suggest a Medorrhinum state. Alcohol does not set it off, nor does it aggravate the state. Many of them drink to deal with the depression, some to try and calm down the mania.

__________________
David Kempson.<br />Dip.Homoeopathic Medicine.<br />Lecturer Australian College of Natural Therapies (Brisbane Campus)<br />Member AHA, AROH, HMA<br />Member Australian Homoeopathic Association. Member#0442.

Was it Divina or someone else who gave a detailed description of how the water and alcohol ingredients were relevant in remedy potentisation maybe 2 months ago? I can't understand the search facility, maybe someone else can remember. It was a brilliant explanation, I'm sorry I didn't cut and paste it at the time.

Wow! Hope it was me!! I could use a boost today, and the adjective "brilliant" would do it!

Are you talking about the "memory of water" theory? (Actually, I think the mystery poster was Lisa Annan, describing the action of LMs and the dilution sequence. Sigh.)

Here's what I know about alcohol use in remedy preparation: it is used in making a tincture, which then gets diluted and applied to globules or pellets. The alcohol evaporates once the globules have been "treated" with the remedy in potency (otherwise, all the pellets in the vial would stick together, and melt into one another!). Technically, you wouldn't be able to find much of a trace of alcohol in the dry dose. Liquid doses are preserved with alcohol too--but this is diluted out when the remedy is prepared for administration.

I agree that this concern might be a big one for someone who needed Arsenicum Album...and that is a big remedy for "bipolar disorder", whatever that is.

Divina

__________________
...and deliverance has many faces<br />but grace<br />is an aquaintance of mine

Oh, I blush [img]redface.gif[/img] - nope, it wasn't me who wrote that.

I think it was David....boy this is beginning to feel like Chinese-whispers, isn't it?

David - was it you who wrote that??

Okay...my two cents - for what it's worth:

I agree with David's post above!!! And might I add - that her 'fear' is kinda pathological and extreme in this instance. I really liked David's point that he made:

"If she is that frightened of alcohol, does she consider that it is probably in the air in restaurants, possibly in some foods, some vinegars are made from wine, most herbal remedies, on the breath of some people she meets, in many cleaning agents, many medicines? "

Not sure I agree that you couldn't help her, though . Course, popping a remedy into someone without their knowledge brings up a complete other subject for discussion. But, hey - if you think in terms of David's point above...kinda makes me wonder if it wouldn't be the best thing for her!

__________________
"The significance of a fact is measured by the capacity of the observer."
Carroll Dunham

Dear Lisa,

I thought of the exact same thing! In fact, Hahnemann says it's OK! In para. 228, speaking of mental and emotional disease, he says "...The administration of medicines is the only thing for which one might be able to justify the use of force, but in homeopathy, this is made easier by the fact that the small doses needed to cure are never noticable to the taste and can therefore be given to the patient in his drink, completely without his knowledge...."

Divina, "bipolar" is the new word for "manic/depressive"--I guess it sounds less upsetting, like people no longer have
VD, they have STD's!

Snoopy