Flower Essences Overcome Depression
Judy (not her real name) was in her thirties when she
met
with me. She had been suffering from depression for six
years
and felt overwhelmed by the weight of her sadness and
lack of energy.
She had been married to George for ten years and they
had three young
children. Although she had tried several different antidepressants
in the
past two years, they didn't seem to help. She felt unfulfilled,
yet she didn't
;
have the energy to do anything beyond taking care of the
house and children.
If she did have extra energy, she didn't even know what
she would like to do.
Judy's self image was suffering as well. She had gained
weight with each of
her pregnancies and hadn't been successful in regaining
her figure. She felt
quite unattractive. We began by exploring her past. She
had suffered from
sexual abuse while a teenager.
We started her on Star of Bethlehem to assist her
in overcoming the trauma
of her abuse. Mustard was also chosen to treat her depression.
We chose
Crab Apple to help her overcome her poor body image,and
Wild Oat to help
her identify what she might enjoy doing with her
time.
Our last essence was Walnut. This essence was chosen to help break the link
with her depres-
sion and pave the way to a happier future. After two months on these five
essences, she began
to feel less depressed. However, she was now able to talk about her feelings
of anger towards
George. She had a long list of complaints about how he ignored her, sat
in front of the tele-
vision set and didn't participate in raising the children or helping her
around the house.
She was upset that he made cutting remarks about her weight and also criticized
how she ran the household. We replaced the Star of Bethlehem with Willow,
which is useful in treating resentment and and feelings of being victimized.
Judy
began feeling more energized, and she started taking art lessons. They gave
her
a creative outlet that she just loved. She also began to talk to her husband
about how
unhappy she was with their relationship. She loved him, but she wanted more
of what
;
they used to share, not what they had now. They gave couples therapy a try
and their
relationship began to improve remarkably. She learned that he withdrew from
her be-
cause he didn't know how to make her happy, not because he didn't love her.
She
is still working on her weight. She lost a few pounds, but more importantly,
she began to accept herself as she was. She even bought some new clothes
that made her feel attractive rather than just hiding herself in baggy
sweats.
The essences helped her move forward in her life, and allowed her to trade
depression for self-empowerment.
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