I, Dr. Bruce Semon, M.D., Ph.D., am a board-certified psychiatrist. A patient came to me with problems from bipolar disorder, which turned out to be related to childhood sexual abuse symptoms. However, I did not know this at the time. Let me explain her history and treatment.
My patient had suffered for a long time. She came to me first about 15 years ago. At that time, when she was in her early 30’s, her bipolar disorder was not that severe. I prescribed a small amount of medication, which helped her. I saw her for a few years, and the medication continued to be helpful. This was good news. As often happens, I did not see her for about 10 years.
This patient came back a few years ago after being hospitalized with more severe symptoms. She thought she was the Messiah and required considerable amounts of medication to be stabilized and to be released from the hospital. Another doctor at the hospital treated her. Since she was stable, the standard practice is to continue the medication from the hospital. Unfortunately, this was not totally effective for this patient. The patient has been hospitalized many times for either thinking she was the Messiah or for being suicidal or both. Medications have not been overly helpful and have caused much weight gain.
But at that point, I learned that she had another tragic part of her personal history. She had been sexually abused as a child by several family members. She has not been able to move past this abuse. She also has a diagnosis of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). The abuse still bothers her.
As it has become clear that at best medications are only minimally helpful to her, I suggested to her that she consider homeopathic treatment for the PTSD related to sexual abuse, as it seems that the abuse had become overwhelming to her. At that moment, it was not clear that treating the PTSD would help the mania symptoms, but nothing was very effective any more.
Homeopathy is based on a detailed understanding of specific symptoms and mental states in an individual patient. Based on this patient’s condition, I prescribed a remedy called “staphysagria,” which is a plant-based remedy. Some of the symptoms described for this remedy include being humiliated and physically and sexually abused and being depressed about the abuse. She started the remedy was started a few months ago. I recently saw this patient. She looked the best I have seen her in years. She felt much better. The abuse is no longer so central in her thinking. Her thoughts are clearer. She has been eating better and walking. She has lost 24 pounds. She has been able to reduce the doses of her other medications.
Homeopathy is a very detailed and delicate system of treatment, which I describe elsewhere on this website. Click here for information. I have studied homeopathy for two decades. Although many people can do homeopathy on their own for simple problems such as ear infections, I do not recommend using some of the more complex remedies for complex problems without the direction of a skilled homeopathic practitioner. I would be happy to help you. Please contact me for an appointment or a Telemedicine consult.
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