Belladonna is a plant remedy of the acute miasm. The main feeling of a Belladonna person is of a sudden threat from outside from which he has to escape in order to survive.
The suddenness is one of the main characteristics of Belladonna. Everything comes in paroxysms with suddenness, and goes with equal suddenness. But while it lasts, there seems to be a very intense and life threatening situation; the person is beside himself and wants to escape.
Also, there is a certain degree of violence in his sensations and actions.
Belladonna can be quite cheerful. In fact, he can be dancing, laughing, singing and can have a generally light-hearted feeling and exuberance. But when the attack comes, he becomes crazy with fear and anxiety, with excitement, with throbbing of the carotids, palpitation of the heart and a feeling of imminent threat or danger.
One of the Belladonna patients that I had disappeared from treatment suddenly and after months suddenly called me up from some part of the world and then disappeared for months again. For Belladonna Dr. M. L. Sehgal points to the rubric: “Unconsciousness interrupted by screaming”. His interpretation is that the Belladonna patient remains unconscious of his problems and they come up suddenly to his consciousness and make him very excited.
The delusions, dreams and fears of Belladonna have to do with sudden threat, for example:
– Delusion, bulls, of.
– Fear, imaginary things, of.
– Fear, animals, of.
– Fear, impending death, of.
– Delusion, gallows with fear of, vision of.And he reacts with violence, impulse to set things on fire, attempts to escape and run away.There is a need to escape, to run away. There is a feeling that he will be pursued, killed. Therefore he runs, escapes, rages.
The difference between Belladonna and Stramonium is that in Belladonna, the specific situation is like that of one who is about to be taken to the gallows, while in Stramonium it is like that of a person lost in a jungle. Stramonium looks for somebody to cling on to, seeking light and company, whereas the main action in Belladonna is reacting violently to save himself, e.g. desire to escape; rage.
Physical symptoms
Among the main physical symptoms of Belladonna are:
– Sudden paroxysmal pains that come suddenly and go suddenly.
– Extremely sensitive to light, noise and jarring.
– Desire for lemonade, lemon juice.
– Pains are throbbing.
Rubrics
– Ailments from fright.
– Beside oneself, being.
– Delusion, animals of, frightful.
– Delusion, bulls, of.
– Delusion, dogs sees.
– Delusion, murdered, he will be.
– Delusion, pursued by enemies.
– Escape, attempts to.
– Exuberance.
– Fear, gallows, of the.
– Fire, wants to set things on.
– Unconsciousness interrupted by shrieking.
– Deeds of violence, rage leading to.
– Fear alternating with rage.
Kent
– Involuntary urination during sleep; difficult to awaken from.
Phatak
– Admonition aggravates.
– Direction of symptoms: increase and decrease suddenly.
