A Case of Panic Attacks in a Young Girl

Isabella was nine years old when I first met her, a lovely young girl with long, blonde hair. She had been suffering from intense anxiety attacks as well as generalized anxiety ever since watching a Freddie Krueger horror movie three months ago. The mother was concerned that her reaction was this long lasting. At this point Isabella was unable to go to the basement alone, although it was finished. She was afraid of the dark and unable to sleep alone at night. She fearred that her family would get murdered. She did not have any of those fears prior to watching the movie. As if a Nightmare on Elmstreet wasn't enought, detailed questioning revealed the following story:

When the mother was five months pregnant she had lunch in a restaurant with a friend when suddenly the doors flew open, and a large gang stormed into the restaurant armed with machine guns. The gang, like a Mafia operation, dispersed into the kitchen, bathrooms and dining room, fired salvos of bullets into the ceiling and commanded all patrons to lie down on the floor. Then they robbed every single person, except for the mother and her friend.Throughout the ordeal the mother was lying terrified on the floor holding her belly.

Aconite as a homeopathic remedy for shock

Of course this was a tremendous shock for the mother. Naturally, just seeing horror movies may affect a young child significantly, but Isabella’s reaction was very long lasting.

I cannot prove this of course, but both the mother and I felt that perhaps the mother's intense shock during the pregnancy may have predisposed Isabella to react more intensely to frightful events later in life. Initially I prescribed Stramonium, but without success. I subsequently gave Aconite, another homeopathic remedy frequently used for after-effects of intense fright, which helped to resolve her fears.