A ten-year- old child completely recovers from severe anxiety with homeopathy!!

This story is about a school-going boy (Patient ID: 53107), who along with his parent, visited Mulund Clinic of Life Force on the 28th of November 2023. The parent shared her fears about her child being nervous and anxious leading to uneasiness in the chest, and abdomen, with breathlessness and dizziness. The episodes started in 2022 post-Covid when the school had started physical attendance. The child was easily affected by his teacher`s words of reprimand, which was done for all the children in class but affected the patient leading to intense anxiety and physical symptoms. The episodes of anxiety were major two to three times every month and were gradually increasing in the last three to four months. He was advised conventional medications by a psychiatrist but was not started yet. The parents had come with the hope that he would recover with homeopathy under Dr. Shah’s guidance.

Let us understand a little about anxiety neurosis:

Anxiety is a normal stress reaction when facing any problem or challenge, e.g. before going for a test, interview, or exam or before making an important decision in life, etc…

Anxiety neurosis, on the other hand, is an intense uncontrollable fear or anxiety due to the anticipation of a threatening event or situation. In most patients, the intense feeling of anxiety, unreasonable worry, and restlessness is accompanied by some physical symptoms. It requires treatment, and homeopathy is strongly recommended in such cases because the patient’s basic nature, mental state, symptoms of anxiety neurosis, stress coping mechanisms, childhood situations, family environment in childhood, family history, past medical history, and social, personal, and professional relationships are taken into consideration and a detailed analysis is done before prescribing the medicines and these medicines act at root level and bring about gradual recovery.

Dr. Rajesh Shah Sir has explained in a beautiful yet simple manner about anxiety, you may refer to the below link:

https://www.lifeforce.in/anxiety-neurosis.aspx

At Life Force:

The case history was taken in detail and a few main points are as follows:

Personal and family setup:

The child was emotionally sensitive and easily affected by even the slightest words of rebuke/ reprimands given in a good way. He had intense anticipatory anxiety if he lagged in written work at school, and then tried to skip school due to fear of facing the teacher. He was easily stressed out if things were not done correctly and on time, especially his schoolwork.

The child lived with his parents and grew up in a loving environment. However, due to his parents' frequent transfers, they have had to change residency at least thrice since the patient's birth, the most recent being in 2022.

The child was very attached to his mother; however, he had no friends. Although he had classmates at school, he felt lonely at times and always felt the stress of coping in a new environment after every relocation. Additionally, it was a major challenge for him to face a new school physically after COVID-19.

Past history:

The patient was an only child, with a history of being a preterm baby with low birth weight, but recovered well with proper attention. Although his milestones were regular, there was a slight delay in speech noted.

There was no other significant illness in the past, except typhoid and viral fever, from which he recovered smoothly with conventional treatment.

Family history of illness:

The patient’s mother had anxiety neurosis and was under conventional treatment for many years. She was afraid of passing the same traits to her child and did not want him to be dependent on conventional treatment, as was advised for him earlier by her treating psychiatrist.

Based on his case history, Dr. Shah prescribed his research-based homeopathic medicines for a duration of eight weeks. He was also advised few investigations.

The patient was made to feel comfortable and encouraged to speak at his own pace, not prodded. Since they were not keen on counselling sessions, the patient was counselled in the clinic itself. He was encouraged to face his anxieties, discussed them, and counselled for the same. The first visit was focused on building a good rapport with the young patient.

Follow ups:

At the first follow-up on the 13th of January 2024, the parent-reported no major episodes. But the patient had become cranky, irritable with short spells of crying at the slightest trifles. Also, he had become a bit adamant in his ways. Based on his follow-up, he was prescribed further medicines by Dr. Shah the patient was counselled again about his changing moods and the anxieties behind it. Although the patient was very young at age, he was understanding and cooperative with the treatment.

On the 2nd of March 2024, when the patient visited with his parent, they reported no major anxiety episodes. Also, the crankiness, crying, and stubbornness had reduced. The patient was still struggling with his procrastination about schoolwork and got anxious when nearing the submission date. He was counselled about the same. Dr. Shah prescribed another eight weeks of medicines on the basis of the feedback.

Further, follow-up on the 16th of April 2024, there was further improvement in anxiety and nervousness. The parent reported that the patient is completing schoolwork on time. On the basis of the follow-up, he was again prescribed by Dr. Shah for eight weeks of duration.

After another three months, on the 20th of July 2024, they reported the patient was further better in all his symptoms. There was a history of the mother being ill and the patient had to skip school for some days. Although the patient was anxious about school work, he proactively took the help of his teachers and classmates and completed well in time to study for his exams. This was an amazing experience for the parents as well as for the patient. He had become less anxious in the face of any challenges and more confident in resolving them.

During the next two months till September 2024, the patient was consistently improving in all aspects. He was smiling more and at the recent follow-up, he mentioned that he had made friends at school and in his neighboring areas, and was enjoying his school activities as well. He was prescribed by Dr. Shah again and advised to continue for a few more months and then to stop treatment altogether.

Conclusions:

This case highlights the remarkable benefits of homeopathic treatment for managing anxiety in children. Despite a strong genetic predisposition and the various challenges the child faced, he showed steady progress and achieved complete recovery under Dr. Shah's care. Homeopathy not only addressed the root cause of his anxiety but also eliminated the need for conventional medications, much to the relief of his parents.

- Written by Dr. Varsha Honkalse, Associate doctor to Dr. Rajesh Shah, MD (Hom)