— this is a collaborative article written by Sally Dawson and Jann Garitty

Part Three
Detailed Case Study
Using Flower Essences for Bipolar Disorder

"Joy, 55-years old, is someone I have worked with for over a year now. Listening to her symptoms apart from the bipolar, I thought she suffered with low blood sugar as she needed food very frequently, at least 6 times a day. So she started using chromium which is very effective for stabilizing blood sugar, and at that stage I gave her Rescue Remedy (aka Five-Flower Formula) as she was hesitant to try anything new. She also started taking a liver formula as she was constipated and had been on medication for the bipolar for decades which I thought would be good to get out of her system. I also wanted to boost her protein level and B vitamins to stabilize her nervous system, so she took a B complex and spirulina. These all started to boost her and she felt better.

Pink Yarrow

Then she started to drop quickly into a depression, felt anxious, cold, unhappy with her living situation and was not sleeping well. So she took, Pink Yarrow, Garlic, Mimulus, Mustard, and Rosemary . When she returned a week later, she was sleeping better and felt more integrated emotionally. Her energy was coming back with the supplements, and her depression felt like it was easing. Her constipation started easing from the chiropractic adjustments, the liver formula and the encouragement on an emotional level by the remedies. About a month after this I muscle-tested her thyroid and felt that it was underactive; she went and had a blood test which confirmed this. I put her on to chlorophyll to increase the vitality and vigor of her cell system. Also a thyroid glandular. The following week she was able to cope going out of the house every day which was very unusual and felt her anxiety was much less. Her stomach and digestive system felt better than it had in years and the constant lump that was in her stomach had gone. She generally felt a lot more robust.

She then received the news that she had a breast lump, so I gave her a remedy for shock; Arnica, Echinacea, Star of Bethlehem, Cherry Plum, and White Chestnut . I also gave her two tapes recorded by an Australian woman who had survived cancer and had used meditation and natural therapies. Joy really enjoyed these and used the meditation often, which was great, as it wasn't something she had tried before. Soon after I gave her Gorse, Mustard, Cherry Plum, St John's Wort, and Star of Bethlehem . She felt more stable, and lighter in Spirit. She felt able to just ‘be', rather than be in such a high anxiety state, and she felt the world was more okay to actually be in. She started sleeping better again, and spent more time outside going for walks. She had her first surgery and the breast lump was removed.

St. John's Wort/p>

A couple of weeks later I gave her Pink Yarrow, Mugwort, St John's Wort, Queen Anne's Lace, and Lady's Slipper . One week later she reported that she had more stamina, less irritability, was coping with having to be inside better, and was feeling less claustrophobic. I suggested fairly early on in the treatment that she may like to consider trying a Blood Type diet, to again minimize any physiological stress on her system and allow it to perform, hopefully to her maximum, especially with the possibility of cancer on top of everything else. Joy found she responded well on the Blood Type B diet and could also feel positive change when she ate foods her body was able to cope with and she noticed the difference when she deviated to foods that were not listed for her blood type.

At this time she muscle-tested very positively to colostrum which we thought would further boost her immune system. Her breast tenderness seemed to lessen after spinal adjustments and taking the colostrum. Around this time we had an important breakthrough; she actually awoke for a couple of mornings feeling joyful. She didn't recall ever having felt that before. She was also coping the best ever with grey days and not plunging emotionally. She realized that it had been the first year that she could remember when she had not suffered with Seasonal Light Disorder through the winter season.

Queen Anne's Lace

I decided to give her Angel's Trumpet at this time, along with Pink Yarrow, Lady's Slipper, Queen Anne's Lace, and St John's Wort because I felt we had reached a turning point and Angel's Trumpet can be so wonderful to gently move people through a transformation into another phase.

Then she went through a phase of feeling overwhelmed, anxious, not sleeping, so she received Yarrow, Larch, Chamomile, Mountain Pride, and Penstemon . I hadn't mentioned before that with Joy her response to the remedies is within a day or so as she seems very sensitive and responsive to them. She often will ring up and leave a message that her emotional state is easing and she's more able to cope.

A couple of weeks later she expressed that the feeling of "not enough light in her body" had returned, and with it a sense of abandonment. So, I gave her Angel's Trumpet, Lady's Slipper, Queen Anne's Lace, St John's Wort, and Evening Primrose . I felt that some childhood issues were starting to emerge. She felt very calm after taking this remedy, more positive, centered, and was feeling happy, but not maniacally happy. We had concurrently kept up with the B complex, tyrosine, spirulina, and chlorophyll because Joy felt such a difference when she stayed on these supplements. I believe we all have different metabolic rates and that some people use up certain substances far faster than other people, so if they rapidly slip into deficit, their body starts yelling out alarm symptoms like mood swings, etc. She also used vitamin E and linseed oil which apparently block receptor sites for cancer.

Evening Primrose

Her next remedy was Rosemary, Gorse, Evening Primrose, Queen Anne's Lace, and Golden Ear Drops ; again to release childhood issues, and I got a sense that the Rosemary would help her incarnate into her body more, along with soothing childhood trauma. I had a feeling that on some level her soul thought ‘Holy Cow! Am I incarnating into that contract' and some part of her withdrew. She laughed and laughed when I explained what I was sensing. She reported feeling really great after the remedy a few days later. Within a week she also had a recollection of a childhood incident and easily came to terms with it.

She was now due for surgery again, but felt she was coping well with it all. Her psychiatrist couldn't believe how well she was doing and how 'even' her emotional state was. Joy had mentioned in the past that she was taking supplements and flower essences but unfortunately this was brushed off. Her circulation seems to be improving with her chronically cold feet starting to thaw out a bit more.

The difference in Joy is quite marked. She was feeling very suicidal when she first started treatment, she admitted to me recently, but is so much more stable and generally happier."

Send an e-mail message to Dr. Sally Dawson