Determining whether a case is getting better or worse §253-§256 Organon §253

The patient's mental and emotional state and whole behavior give the first indications of aggravation or amelioration.

In all diseases, especially the rapidly arising (acute) ones, the patient's emotional state and entire behavior are the surest and most enlightening of the signs showing a small beginning (not visible to everyone) of amelioration or aggravation. When there is an ever-so-slight beginning of improvement, the patient will demonstrate a greater degree of comfort, increasing composure, freedom of spirit, increased courage-a kind of returning naturalness. When there is an ever-so-slight beginning of aggravation, the patient will demonstrate the opposite of this, exhibiting a more self-conscious, more helpless state of emotional mind, of the spirit, of the whole behavior and of all attitudes, positions and performances-a state which draws more pity to itself. This can be easily seen if one observes with exact attentiveness, but it cannot be easily described in words. 207

Comment

207 Signs of mental and emotional improvement can only be expected soon after ingestion of the medicine if the dose has been properly minute (i.e. , as small as possible). An unnecessarily larger dose of even the homeopathically most fitting medicine acts too violently. It initially disturbs the spirit and emotions too much and too persistently for one to soon become aware of the improvement in the patient; not to mention the other disadvantages (§276) from doses that are all-too-large. I remark here that this very necessary rule is sinned against mostly by conceited beginners in homeopathy and by physicians from the old school, who are passing over to the homeopathic medical art. Due to old prejudices, those who come from the old school avoid using the smallest doses of the higher dynamizations of medicines. Hence, they do not experience the great advantages and blessings of this procedure which has been found, in thousands of experiences, to be the most salutary. They are unable to achieve all that genuine homeopathy can do and thus unjustly pass themselves off as its students.