14.3 Erbium metallicum case
Width 7, Depth 5, Cure 7, Duration 6
A man of 45 has fatigue problems. He needs a lot of sleep.
In contacting people he’s not assertive. He feels not recognized, not seen.
He’s distant, not interested and not motivated. He just goes on, in an aloof way. He has the feeling of not belonging. It has to do with absorbing experiences without really recognizing and processing them. It’s like letting his feelings do the work, without really thinking about it. When he’s touched emotionally, he stores the emotions in an emotional cupboard where they stay forever. Situations that he let pass, absorbed a lot of energy. His feelings were determined by the actions of others, especially people that just came to get something, without giving anything back.
He was the youngest of four children. He always had the feeling that there was not much time and attention for him. His father was working hard and for his mother four children was too great a burden. But he never complained about it. A typical situation was when the family was on holiday and traveled on from a certain place they'd been visiting and left him there. They simply had forgotten him. It took them 10 minutes to realize that the car was emptier than before!
He’s very much on his own, with an aversion to too many personal contacts.
He has an aversion to being told what to do.
He’s philosophical, for instance thinking about time.
He has a kind of depression. This is inherited from his mother and grandmother.
Analysis
The distant, aloof quality made me think of Erbium metallicum. It’s a quality of not doing anything really and thus keeping distant in order to preserve their autonomy. This is expressed in the typical storing of emotions. Because he cannot handle them he can only store them away. He feels too powerless to do something with them.
The Lanthanides are indicated by his aversion to authority and his philosophical attitude.
Confirmations
Erbium: not interested, not motivated, not assertive.
Follow up
After Erbium metallicum he becomes more assertive. He doesn't store his emotions away anymore, but gives a reaction to the person that provoked them. He feels more rational, in the sense of thinking about what’s happening to and in him. He thinks more about himself, without being egotistical. He loves himself more. He has stopped putting energy into people that make him feel bad. He reacts more clearly and is more motivated towards his environment. He has more humor and empathy and can put things into perspective better. He feels responsible for how he feels and decides how he feels. Life doesn't just pass him by. He's sleeping less.
As a reaction he was very irritated for a day by a colleague who had to borrow his laptop.
Four years later, he's still doing well.