By Dr. Pradeep Sethiya

2.10.04

The morning started with Madhura introducing the speaker, Dr. Sethiya. Dr. Sethiya has obtained his degree in Homeopathy (BHMS) from Dhondumama Sathe Homeopathic Medical College, Pune. He has been teaching in the same college for the past 18 years. He has been a Homeopathy practitioner for the past 18 years.

Dr. Sethiya began his presentation by talking about the philosophical basis of the discipline of Homeopathy. According to him, Homeopathy does not consider mental health as separate from health, but holds a more holistic view of the individual's constitution. Homeopathy believes in the 'Trinity of Life' which is constituted by the combination of body, mind and spirit. He opined that mental health has to be defined through the concept of mind, which includes thoughts, emotions and behavior. The original meaning of Psychology is science of soul, which has now been diluted to the study of mind. It has been narrowed down even more to denote behavioral science, because modern medical sciences cannot provide space for a broader conception of 'soul'. However, alternative sciences can still accept the original definition of soul, since they have a holistic approach towards health.

Homeopathy defines mind in a very simple manner- as a chain of thoughts, which are constantly in movement. Normalcy of mind is constituted when the movement is in proportion to its requirement. No movement or exaggerated movement, both indicate deviation from normalcy.

Homeopathy works on the basic tenet of 'Similia Similibus Curantium'. This is actually the Latin definition of Homeopathy, which means, 'like cures like'. Or the oft quoted, 'use a thorn to remove a thorn'. Thus what causes the symptoms itself becomes an indicator of the cure as well. The motto of Homeopathy has been, 'to comfort always, to relieve often, to cure sometimes'.

A German doctor, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann is credited with the discovery of Homeopathy, though, according to Dr. Sethiya, Homeopathy was being used much earlier in India. Thus according to the history of this discipline, Dr. Hahnemann founded this discipline in the year 1755. Materia Medica is considered to be the Bible or the most basic text of Homeopathy.

Dr. Sethiya chose to elaborate upon the holistic basis of Homeopathy by giving illustrations from his experience in medical practice. However, before that, he mentioned the two important of pillars of homeopathic practice- firstly, deviation of a response is the basis of homeopathy and secondly, changes of a recent origin clinch the diagnosis for the same.

He started with an example of a case, in which the patient came with complaints of sleeplessness, crying constantly, etc. Recent history of the patient revealed death of a family member recently. The patient had developed an aversion for fruits. Dr. Sethiya mentioned the use of 'Ignatia' as the most suitable medication for such a condition, wherein the patient had recently suffered a trauma, generally resulting from a death in the family. The patient had dry eyes, hence had not shed tears following the death and as a result could develop emotional hypertension and an aversion of things that one originally liked. Ignatia was an ideal remedy for such shock-related condition, earning the name 'Funeral Remedy' because of the same reason!

There is a need to differentiate between disease and sickness as different concepts. Sickness is what the patient tell the doctor (the user's perception), while disease is what the doctor diagnoses the person with. However, sometimes there could be a conflict between these two frameworks (viz. biomedical and dynamic) of looking at illness. For instance, the medical tests reveal that the patient has diabetes, but the patient himself refuses to believe it. Homeopathy caters to these needs of the patients as well- through its feature of polypharmacy. This view takes a sickness-oriented approach, taking care of both, the physical as well as the mental symptoms of the patients.

Dr. Sethiya talked about 'wrongly placed emotions', which can cause harm in the larger society. For instance, in case of a girl falling in love with a driver, she has lost the ability to discriminate between right and wrong and has become unreasonable. Such people can be cured through homeopathy and the society would remain healthy in this way. Dr. Sethiya also gave the example of the famous actress, Neena Gupta, who decided to be a single parent. She was unreasonable in her behavior and that could be remedied by Homeopathy.

He then moved on to talk about the scope and limitations of Homeopathy, especially in the context of mental illnesses. Homeopathy in a way represents the golden mean between psychiatry and counseling while dealing with mental problems. According to Dr. Sethiya, a psychiatrist might simply prescribe drugs to the person, while a counselor will only be able to talk to the person. The latter is also inadequate, since according to him Indian psyche cannot be counseled with mere words. It has to be accompanied with some prescription as well. Homeopathy takes care of both these aspects. Thus a holistic approach allows the doctor to look at the patient in a more sensitive manner, while at the same time certain medicines are also available for specific illnesses. An important point that was made regarding the relevance of Homeopathy for mental health was that it can address the psychological plane of the individual before the latter can affect the soma (body) as well. However, many people go directly to the specialist, which does not help them so much.

There is a need for the practitioners of Homeopathy to understand the language of distress of the patients and be able to empathize. When certain medicines are prescribed to the patient who presents a mental illness, it is equally important to comfort the patient with a therapeutic message. It is looking at the patient as a person that allows the discipline of Homeopathy to prescribe these measures. Dr. Sethiya also mentioned that nobody is really diseased or 'mad'; we are all just on a continuum of well-not well or normal -not normal.

Thus Homeopathy has been effective in the treatment of neurotic disorders, phobias, psychosomatic illnesses, obsessive-compulsive disorders, hypochondria, behavioral problems of children like stammering, poor attention, restlessness etc. Homeopathy relates a disorder not to pathology, but a human being. Which is why most counselors consider Homeopathy to be the most complimentary 'pathy' for their work.

While giving an illustration of the effectiveness of Homeopathy vis-à-vis mental illnesses, Dr. Sethiya contended that people with obsessive-compulsive disorders respond very well to Homeopathy. According to him, people with OCDs are generally very impatient by nature and land up with a lot of negative medication, getting enslaved to it. Many of them also tend to avoid or resist their problems and refuse to accept their condition as a problem. This refusal to see one's condition as a problem might also be due to the desire to nurture one's pain, opined Dr. Sethiya. However, once people accept their situation, they respond fantastically to Homeopathy. He even narrated an account of a couple of patients, whom he had treated for OCD and now are completely well.

Another example that Dr. Sethiya gave was that related to 'cardiac neuroses'. This is a condition wherein people just feel that they are getting chest pains or are feeling uneasy, though they are in reality alright. In such cases people need psychological intervention more than a physiological one. Again, this condition can be managed nicely by Homeopathy.

Dr. Sethiya recognized that mental illness is highly stigmatized in our context and that most people look in the wrong places for relief. It is important for a mentally ill person to take action for his benefit; a treatment which is non-invasive and promotive in nature. Homeopathy can provide a good option, since it fits into this category.

However, there could be some areas which Homeopathy might not be able to address. For instance, if the patient has had a history of ECT (shock treatment), then Homeopathy might not work in this case. Also many patients who have been taking psychiatric treatment for a long time have an over-medicalised constitution, resulting in a high amount of toxicity in their body. Homeopathy has limitations in such cases also. There could be some cases which might require psychiatric drugs or even ECT. Dr. Sethiya claimed that he himself referred a patient to a psychiatrist if he feels that he cannot handle it.

Commenting upon the narrow biomedical perspective, Dr. Sethiya mentioned that the biggest risk of medical care is 'over care'. By this he meant that one ends up compiling a long list of drugs and medicines, but no efforts are made to bring about certain positive changes in one's lifestyle. This in fact, would help more than mere medical treatment. On the other hand, each remedy in Homeopathy is known as constitutional remedy- in this, the entire constitution of the person is taken into consideration before any treatment regimen is prescribed. Thus there is no specific remedy for a particular disease like migraine or tuberculosis, but only remedies that are specific to the particular person, depending upon his/her constitution.

According to Homeopathy, whenever the human body is affected by any disease, it progresses along an axis involving four planes, as shown in the following figure:

It is only on the last plane, i.e. the endocrino-physical plane that people show symptoms of the disease. However, priority should be given to alternatives which can work effectively at the other levels as well. One of the common misconceptions about Homeopathy is that it involves very strict dietary regimen. Dr. Sethiya rubbished these misconceptions by saying that a diet or a lifestyle to which the person is already accustomed to, would never interfere with Homeopathy treatment. Thus following one's natural lifestyle would not be disruptive for the treatment.

After this, Dr. Sethiya elaborated upon the various personality types that have been mentioned in Homeopathy. Since Homeopathy takes into consideration the entire constitution of a person, it has also mentioned the types of personality that commonly occur in the society.

The first personality type that Dr. Sethiya talked about was that of Pulsedila type. This type is generally found more in women. In fact, Dr. Sethiya even narrated a little jingle which described the characteristics of a 'Pulsedila' woman- this jingle talks about how the Pulsedila woman is a proud woman, who is very unpredictable. She is extremely moody and changeable by nature. These women are child-like and surrender to authority easily. They are eager to take on the role of a woman, as is prescribed by the society.

The next category is the Platina type. Women who belong to this type generally come from high social strata and are egoistic, rude and have great deal of contempt for others. A third type is that of Sepia. Sepia women are generally heartless women, who have faced a lot of difficulties in their lives. They have a tell-tale face, which clearly reflects what they are feeling. They have a harsh tongue, but an expression of helplessness in their eyes. Such women generally resist the role of womanhood, as opposed to the Pulsedila woman. Dr. Sethiya described the Sepia woman as a still, frozen woman, who has minimal involvement in anything. They face problems like leukohorria, laxity, inertia, prolapse and problems during delivery.

Dr. Sethiya also described a personality type which is largely found in males. This is called the 'Hurry, Worry, Curry' type. These men usually occupy executive positions and are characterized by ambition. There is a lot of interest in alcohol and other beverages. In case of an illness, this type will be the first to practice self-medication. They are prone to many stress-related problems.

However, Dr. Sethiya stressed that as far as these personality types are concerned, Homeopathy takes a dynamic approach. Thus these types are not permanent, with which a person is born. One may be of a particular constitution type during childhood and this could change to another type when one grows up. When a patient comes to a homeopath, the latter tries to find this essence of the person, not just the symptoms. Dr. Sethiya described this as finding the core of the person, which gives context to the symptoms. Added to this are the recent changes in the patient's life, which then clinch the prescription to be given to the patient. This seems to constitute the very basic procedure of diagnosis in Homeopathy.

A great deal of emphasis is also laid upon the way of interacting with the patient. There is a need to put the patient at ease, through verbal and non-verbal communication, so that they do not close their minds to the interaction. According to Dr. Sethiya, doctors should be trained in giving confidence to their clients, since many a times people change their doctors because the latter cannot assure them and take care of their 'fears'. Unfortunately, in biomedical practice exactly the opposite is done, wherein the doctors themselves play upon the patients' fears and emotions for their (doctors') interests.

Dr. Sethiya gave an example of the increasing number of hysterectomies nowadays. Hysterectomies are very casually done, with more and more women coming under western influence, by thinking that menstruation could be gotten rid of. However, one has to pay a heavy price for this, and that is premature menopause, which comes with its own problems. Thus there is a need to create awareness about unnecessary medical procedures, so that they can be avoided.

Responding to a query about the practice of Homeopathy, Dr. Sethiya admitted that currently Homeopathy is not for the masses, but for classes. The reasons behind are varied. Firstly, since allopathy gives quick cures, many poor people turn towards it so that minimal time is lost. Also, many a times, people are more concerned with getting relief from their ailment, rather than thinking about what 'pathy' they should opt for. Hence, allopathy is resorted to since it requires relatively less time to take effect. Thirdly, there is very limited Government funding to Homeopathy, due to which many homeopaths shift over to allopathy.

It is a common practice among doctors to send their children to homeopathy college, just to be able to get a medical degree, so that the latter can take over their parents' medical practice. About 50% of students who take admission to a homeopathy college do so because they did not get admission to a MBBS course. Thus Homeopathy is not perceived as a viable alternative to allopathy amongst the medical fraternity itself.

Lastly, people resort to Homeopathy generally for chronic problems, for which they have probably also tried allopathic treatment. Thus it is natural for the homeopathic treatment to take time to show its effects. However, this creates a misconception amongst the people that Homeopathy takes a long time to take effect. One of the reasons for this is also the fact that Homeopathy does not have pain killers as such, but what is does is to modify that pain and recommend larger changes in the lifestyle.

While concluding his talk, Dr. Sethiya described Homeopathy as a 'medicine of experience'- one cannot simplify it through words, but one has to experience it oneself. Stressing upon its holistic perspective, he described it as a 'centre to periphery' pathy.

The talk ended with Daya Patwardhan or Bapu, thanking Dr. Sethiya for his extremely interesting talk and also thanking the audience for making the lecture a success.