My beautiful hues, hewn by the blues…
I didn’t say it but that does not mean I didn’t feel it, you come and walk all over me with such brazen audacity, why can’t I find my voice to level with the same pugnacity?
Stunned I stand, my freedom indurated, unable to reprehend, suffering becomes my friend!
Like an innocent child who is left to fend for itself in stressful situations, one can imagine its initial state of vulnerability resulting in an inability to have a proper reaction to defend itself. But over a period, with proper nurturing and care, the child is taught and shown by example how to manage those emotions, so as it grows it will garner the normal capabilities of a healthy emotional exchange. Which in my view is a form of an emotional defence mechanism that slowly builds the confidence of the child and helps the human being attain a healthy balance teaching us the subtle dynamics of managing life. It seems it is this defence system that is underdeveloped in a Staphysagria person, where his reactions to social circumstances of any manner are highly disproportionate and so we get an individual who is gentle, sweet, and affectionate yet unable to navigate human behaviour with a rational attitude.
Kent says, “The person becomes speechless from suppressed indignation; anger with indignation… Great indignation about things done by others or by himself; grieves about consequences.” 1
The Staphysagria person is rife with emotions, but he lacks the basic ability to express himself, so he will avoid direct confrontations that mean spontaneous reactions and a chance of being hurt so he suppresses those vital reactions that would otherwise be considered a normal healthy response in a human being may it be a show of anger, love, or sadness in order to release the inner tension but instead Staphy will control and then writhe in pain…
Kent further discerns, “One who is in health can easily put aside a controversy, knowing that he has done what is right, but a Staph. patient when he has to control himself goes all to pieces, trembles from head to foot, loses his voice, his ability to work, cannot sleep and a headache follows.” 2
This is the core of Staphy, his defensive barriers are instantly triggered to go into effect at the slightest possibility of a loss of control of his emotions over an external invasion that he feels will hurt his sensitivities, so he will suppress as a defensive act and yield to suffer later. Yet “E-motions” are spontaneous and fluid, in a balanced economy they will be released outwards at the appropriate time in order to build immunity by letting go of any negativity they might garner, but Staphy’s tendency to control his true emotions will receive a hurt and then hold on to it. This is not a cowardice like the Lycopodium, or an indifference like the Nat Mur, but it stems in Staphy’s low self-esteem, a state of low confidence about his feelings so he thinks he can’t defend them when needed, in which case he will almost always have a paralysed response externally as a protective mechanism and resort to causing turmoil within. It must be noted that there is no lack of emotions here, in fact they are very sensitive and prone to feeling hurt easily so we shall find in the repertory many ailments of Staph arising from emotional upsets, like suppressing anger, sensitivity to rudeness, mortification, indignation, grief etc. Their low self-esteem makes them so vulnerable to external impressions, that every little gesture, however benign, seems like a great ignominy yet these individuals will be found to be very sweet and amicable, averse to ever hurting any other person, but it’s also this passivity that will gradually develop within them a weakness and hence a disposition to recurring physical ailments.
Staphy is said to be a major remedy for those who have been subjected to physical abuse and rape, for the state that is brought upon the person who has been violated without their permission to be subjected to what they did not want, is what the Staphysagria’s state can be likened to when they also feel invaded. Staphy is trying so so hard to control his inner feelings from spilling out and for someone to just brazenly walk over and make him lose that control is no less than a physical assault upon him and more than anyone else he won’t be able to forgive himself as to how could he have let that breach happen. This is also an effective remedy especially after surgeries, deep lacerations, wounds, loss of blood, cuts caused by sharp instruments, because the body in these cases perhaps feels the same invasion that the Staphy feels emotionally so the patient’s immunity reacts by not healing and reverting from such mishaps with ease.
Vithoulkas explains, “She swallows her indignation, but the key distinction in Staphysagria is that there is no bitterness” 3 resulting in a complete debility of exerting her will-power to act accordingly yet accumulating all the hurt within. He further elaborates, “The passive suppression of emotion is then the trigger for the pathological picture of Staphysagria.” 4
Physical manifestations will first show up on the more peripheral organs that correspond to that mental passivity and the skin will have eruptions that don’t heal and glands that indurate, organs that are used to naturally relieve oneself like the bladder will suffer from frequent urination or the bowels with chronic diarrhoea or constipation, abdominal pains of the stitching kind will be found. The tight control on sentiments will wound up and distress the inner economy greatly so there will be headaches where the head will feel as if made of wood and Vithoulkas relates this feeling to be highly characteristic with the tendency to indurate in the Staphy. 5
Being of a highly excitable nature the Staph is known to develop a lot of her problems due to romantic inclinations, because out of all emotions the romantic kind comes with a great deal of fluctuations, and with the innate tendency to keep all feelings crammed within she will be shook up one way or another when trying to manage them. Here the sexual organs will be highly affected with a need to masturbate to release the sexual energy, in fact Staphysagria are highly inclined to do so given their natural predispositions. So, she can dwell upon these thoughts that are extremely excitable with much satisfaction by herself without ever having to display them in front of her object of affection, yet when the need arises to finally display such emotions “in a direct confrontation…” 6 men are said to lose erections and women will become frigid because they are used to suppressing emotions normally. There is also a high possibility of ailments from unrequited love due to Staphy’s own inability to share her emotions so griefs resulting from such disappointments can also be commonly found that will cause further emotional vulnerability. Sexual organs may be affected with cysts and tumorous growths, ‘warts on the genitals that are highly sensitive to touch.’ 6 Ovaries and testes will be affected after dwelling for too long on sexual thoughts putting the whole individual in a state of prostration. This great tension with an inability to release will form within them a highly sensitive nervous system with heightened senses causing sensitivity to noises, touching, the taste, smell, internal trembling, tearing and stitching pains about the heart and progressively they will develop mood swings with temper outbursts due to high irritability so they will hurl and break things as an act of release, it’s as if all that pent up wrath when finally released it comes with much destruction.
Reference: Kent’s Lectures on MM 1,2. Vithoulkas’s Essence of MM 3,4,5,6
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