ADHD: Or How Carefree Childhood Can Be – By Viktoria Nemeth and Roberto Petrucci

This book on ADHD, a chronic condition characterized by attention difficulty, hyperactivity and impulsiveness beginning in childhood and persisting into adulthood by Emryss Publishers, is a worthwhile addition to a practitioner's bookshelf.

In the Introduction, the authors state that “This book can be a textbook,” and “we recommend it to all advanced or novice homeopaths.” I agree—it contains information that could help especially less experienced homeopaths greatly when repertorizing an attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) case. But even experienced practitioners may find rubrics that they were not familiar with, and possibly reveal a remedy they had not considered.

In Part 1, they discuss the possible symptoms of the condition in considerable detail, in both children and adults. They provide five neuropsychological models of ADHD. But as comprehensive as their description of the condition is, they have omitted one significant factor, which I will discuss later.

Then in Part 2, they specifically discuss ADHD and homeopathy. In Chapter 6, from pages 51 to 97, they provide a very thorough list of rubrics that can be used over a range of possible ADHD presentations. This is where practitioners who are not experienced in treating ADHD patients could find highly relevant support when analyzing the case.

Chapter 7 looks at the need to consider what they term “constitutional traits,” aspects of what makes each ADHD child an individual. This of course is totally appropriate and one thing that makes homeopathy such a valuable modality.

They look particularly at the two groups of temperaments—introvert and extrovert. They then provide potentially valuable rubrics, as they do when considering other difficulties the child may face.

They follow this in Chapter 8 with an interesting Materia Medica of remedies that have been used in many ADHD cases. They present each remedy under six headings: appearance, development, learning, sensory organ, characteristics, and pathology. This is a valuable summary of important remedies clearly drawing on the authors' experiences as well as a variety of Materia Medicas.

Chapter 9 presents 14 cases. Chapter 10 briefly presents some potentially useful questions the practitioner may ask. The book finishes with a summary of potentially useful rubrics in Chapter 11. All useful, practical information.

Finally, it is necessary to point out one obvious omission when discussing ADHD—and that is the potential influence of vaccination, and in particular the DPT (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) groups of vaccines given in the first year of a child's life, and then often at 18 months, 4 years, and frequently later in life.

Possibly the authors wished to avoid controversy and potential attacks by orthodox practitioners. Possibly they have not noticed a vaccine link in their own practices. But the documented evidence of the causative link in many ADHD cases is overwhelming. I have provided homeopathy-related evidence in the fourth edition of Vaccine Injured Children. But recently an outstanding examination of orthodox evidence by Robert Kennedy and Dr. Brian Hooker, Vax-Unvax: Let the Science Speak, puts beyond doubt the fact that vaccination can cause/trigger ADHD in some children.

IF vaccines are a “never well since” cause, and that cause is not removed, it makes any other treatments more difficult and less likely to achieve their full healing potential as they are blocked by the layer of trauma caused by a vaccine. But removing what is often the first real trauma layer experienced by a child allows the patient (adult or child) to respond to the next line of well-indicated remedies—constitutional, miasmic, or symptomatic.

But vaccines are not always a cause/trigger of ADHD, and/or that cause may be removed but further treatment is still required. And this is where the contribution by Nemeth and Petrucci has real practical value.

2023; ISBN: 9798857579497 paperback, 168 pages, English. Book dimension: 15.24 × 22.86 cm, Price: £18.00

Publication History

Article published online:
22 May 2024