Minutus

Dear Tanya, thank you for your follow up notes.

Assessment:- she is still having vivid dreams. But I don't think these
dreams are part of her diseased state, in fact I feel they are part of her
healing process and a necessary outlet, perhaps she even likes dreaming in
this way. I don't think I would be prescribing on them. If she were coming
to you and saying, for example, "I never used to dream, I used to sleep
well, I cannot stand these dreams, I want to go back to having peaceful
sleep" etc etc, then, yes the dreams would be part of the diseased state and
would be part of the case analysis. However, having said that I feel that
when she does get her correct Rx these dreams might soften up somewhat and
play a less dominant role in her life - who knows. But they are interesting
to read though.

Is she opening up a bit? Is she letting some of the terror out through
therapy or is it the Rx working. I think I said before once that I felt that
this person is very good at bringing things to the foreground (at the moment
it is dreams and terror) but she doesn't know what to do when they are
there. This is one of the problems with therapy. From a distance, I
personally don't think that much has changed here.

You say "Unusual Sx to her - aversion to clothing round her neck" If you
look at EXTERNAL THROAT, CLOTHING AGG. you will find TARENTULA in italics
(Kent).

You say desire/amel for company. Where did this come from, I can't see
anything along these lines - can you clarify this please.

I still really think this is a Tarentula case, but only you can decide.
Perhaps others might shed some light on this fascinating case.

Hope this helps and thanks for sharing this with us.

Best wishes, Joy Lucas

Dear Joy,

Thanks for your response. I always enjoy your comments-they do make me work. So here goes--

Dreams: I always think of dreams as reflecting unfinished business in our life. Sometimes they reflect hope and desire. I dont automatically think of them as part of a disease state. In this Pt's dreams I think we see a lot of emotions reflected where she cant feel them during the daytime awake state. Every once in awhile there is a resolution dream. We saw 2 of these under the influence of Ars. There actually are 3 positive dreams under Staph. Others seem to reflect her continued fear and mistrust of men or what she calls her confusion at the singles dreams. I think I use the dreams as a signpost of some progress as well as revelation.

Terror: The sense of terror came up with the remedy. She uses therapy to try to resolve it. I think I agree with your perception that the feelings come up and she doesnt know what to do with them. She cant let go. Surrender is a problem for her so she doesnt hold onto the insights or experiences once on her own without support.
Knowing this woman, i cant help but feel the remedy is opening her up a bit, but aside from the dream life, i do not see any resolution in her daily life.

I think there may be a miscommunication regarding her desire for company. She has always spoken of having a circle of women friends, especially since she became sober 13 years ago. Prior to that, her wild acting out period was always with lots of people. She felt isolated as a child, but i wonder whether is wasnt estrangement while in the company of others. She went thru a change last year when she began to feel comfortable being home alone. This was new for her. She always feels better talking with others and often speaks highly of her support group. I have seen her go from an irritable, unhappy state within minutes of our beginning to talk.

Aver to clothing on her neck? Thanks for the Kent connection.

The most interesting thing was the experience of her hands and arms twirling around with an energy of their own. I guess this points to your suggestion of tarent.
How do you see her desire for and amel by company in regard to tarent which seems to avoid company?

tanya