Angelica Archangelica in Alopecia areata

Male 29 yrs


alopecia areata



He came to me in October 1998.
Since February 1998 he had seborrhoic eczema under his hair at the front-side of his head and locally on the scalp with some bald spots diagnosed as alopecia areata. These spots were perfectly round and situated at the backside of his head. The biggest one 5 cm in diameter. The dermatologist gave him corticosteroid crème and some special liquid for the scabby eczema. The result was that he lost the hair at these treated spots too. The eczema extended to his abdomen and arms in spots.
He went to the dermatologist for the first time in 1992 and called this doctor ‘socially disturbed’ because he made some humiliating remarks about the anxiety of the patient. He never went for another consultation.


Observation: He is a rather tall nice looking man. He answers carefully and waits for my questions, he doesn’t talk freely.


He has been healthy all his life, but as a child he caught the flu regularly which used to end in bronchitis, this was treated with a mucus solvent. He is the youngest of 3 children, he has a brother and a sister.
I asked for his latest stress period.
In 1997 he finished his studies in Political Science and did a post doctoral degree in the U.S. He had to look for a job when he came back. In February 1998 he had 2 jobs. One he didn’t like so much, so he was looking for another one and at the same time his relationship broke up. She walked away with another man. “my self confidence went down. Actually I am a rather rational person. It came unexpectedly in fact, it was painful to me”. At the age of 22. He was in a relationship and she too broke the contact suddenly and he felt very powerless at that time. “I feel often under estimated in contact with people”.
I asked him about anger.
“Mostly I tell how I feel, but ironically I give a verbally exaggerated reaction” he says. No memory of anger in his childhood, he had a ‘safe’ home. He states that his self confidence is okay after all. At school he experienced some difficult situations at the age of 9-11. A sports teacher used to humiliate him “because I was not good at the ball. I swallowed the humiliations for a long time. When I start rowing and being very good at it and also at history, it stopped. After that I didn’t accept this kind of behaviour any more and protested against it.” For example? “I didn’t want to join the military service and for an alternative I had to work in a hospital in stead, with ‘irresponsible management’ I reacted by writing letters. It was a dramatic situation there, it still comes to my mind from time to time. The relationship with my parents was good. Ma was for the harmony model, Pa refused to talk. Together they didn’t go too well.”
Fear as a child?
“Not much. I thought about death and existential questions.” His parents are living in Germany were he grew up and lived till he came to Holland after the hospital period as a volunteer for a German reconciliation program. “I wanted to leave Germany and I wanted my work to have a real meaning. I have been studying German history a lot and asked myself ‘how could it happen’.. that people can just follow the commands… Befehl ist befehl !!” On one side he has a sensitivity, kind of fear of being a German, on the other side “I don’t feel too German after all”.
In the U.S. he did Post Doc., Peace studies and Philosophical dimensions. ”It was not easy, a lot of work. The campus was boring. The students were living together in a house were not allowed to cook, there was a lack of privacy and unrest day and night. The most important to me was that there was no sharing of ideals. This was irritating me. I tried to be of an influence. What is important to me is responsibility by commitment.”
Ambitions?
“To be happy. To have a certain role in society, to change things in the world for the better. To realize ideals without violence. I’ll see.”
At this time he is working as a freelance translator just for the time being. His option is to join a big welfare organisation.
Prefers warmth, hot weather.
Likes to travel all over the world.
Digestion? Good, doesn’t eat meat, sometimes fish. Not thirsty. His energy is okay, so is his sleep. Doesn’t remember his dreams. Lives alone.

I gave him Staphysagria MK
(at the time I did not know the real core of Staphysagria or the Ranunculaceae).


Follow up - November 1998
Feels okay, as if the hair starts to grow a bit. The eczema came back for a short time. The most remarkable after the remedy is that he sleeps more and is more thirsty. The last consultation brought him to think..to decide .. to some new ideas. “Clear, I need a base and a challenge. I see things more relaxed, more matter of fact.”
Dreams? “I remember mostly the atmosphere, extreme things about an outsider with a group, I am observer. I thought by myself, why wandering all the time, who or what am I fleeing for? My ideal is to keep it pure and honest. How far can I go to compromise? I don’t want to give the impression that I know better and that I have the only truth. I am no missionary!”

Staph. MK repeated.


Follow up - December 1998
Feeling of displacement. “I have a need for a supporting environment. As soon as I feel in a comfortable position, I feel, This cannot be IT. I want to achieve more.”
A Family? “Why not, has to be carefully thought over, it is a big responsibility. I am reluctant to a relationship.” No further changes.

I gave him Alum. Met. 200K


Follow up - January 1999
Feels fine. Had a dental treatment last month. Stayed at his parental home for Christmas holidays, had discussions with his family. ”I tried to imagine myself in their way of thinking and living“.
Is busy to apply for a new job. Feels well in himself, no more feelings of displacement.
As a freelancer he likes to work in the evening and at night. “There are less people ‘alive’, but the contacts are more personal. He likes to go through the city at night, nature is more present at that time and the idea that people are asleep is romantic." He feels himself more pure and more easily touched.
Observation: The bald spots diminished these months by 30%, but after the second consultation he told me that it didn’t bother him anymore.
I myself had the feeling that there had to be a better remedy and tried my best to find the appropriate one. Then in January 1999 I saw the similarity of the alopecia spots of a former patient (see edition April 2009) and the ideals and principles in both men.


Follow up - February 1999
So by this time I knew that I would give him Ang. Archang.
I just wanted him to tell some more about his philosophy.
He feels fine. He plans about the realization of his ideals. He committed himself to a big welfare organization and stopped his freelance work. His job will be to teach etc. He feels the need to change things in society. He hates materialism. He is no member of any church because this is too much of an institution. He is brought up in a Christian environment. “As a young child I wanted to be a clergyman, now I feel Taoism is what I like, its practical philosophy”. He has a clear point of view on what is right or wrong. Now he is ready to search for the pure life and pure deep contact with people. He has no T.V. “is humbug”.
Cloistre? “Seems very nice to me, to be there with people in a warm community, in contemplation and sharing ideals, ideals to life and one another."

I gave him Ang. Archang. 200K


Follow up - 3 weeks later
He wrote to me that because of his job he couldn’t come for the next consultation. And he wrote “the remedy must have been very effective because my hair grew rapidly since I took it.”


I called him in August 1999 to ask permission for this publication. He is going well, no complaints and so some months later.


Anne Wirtz 
park@annewirtz.demon.nl