Wisdom of Dis-ease 4: Message of the Stomach-ache 疾病的智慧：系列4 - 肚子痛的启示

My second son was in Standard 3 then. One day, I received a call from him at about 10am. He said he had a very bad stomach-ache. Out of worry, I rushed to baby-sitter’s house to take a look. He was pressing on his tummy, curling up in pain on the floor. I immediately gave him a dose of Homeopathic remedy called Colocynthis, which relieved his stomach-ache rather quickly.

The stomach-ache happened again on second and third day, at around the same time. As soon as I told him that he needn’t go to school, he immediately said ok and hanged up.

This child of mine seldom got sick. I felt something amiss when he was sick for three days in a row. On the third night, I nicely inquired what happened in school. Immediately, his eyes welled up and he ran into my room (not his room). Apparently, he was punished by teacher for not doing his homework.

He was absent from school few days earlier as he was sick. The teacher had informed the class that whoever did not do the homework would be punished. Since he was absent, he did not know that he needed to do the homework. Before he could explain, the teacher already laid the cane on him. He felt so bad that he used stomach-ache to avoid going to school. I then gave him a dose of Ignatia and the ‘stomach-ache’ disappeared and he happily went back to school.

This child feigned sickness when he was accused. Even though it was not a real stomach-ache, it was as a result of emotional disturbance. When this emotional disturbance was dealt with appropriately, everything went back to normal.

Children are generally weak emotionally and they are easily hurt. They usually cannot express well and end up feigning sickness in order to avoid school. Hence, the emotional disturbance is something which we need to pay attention to in any sickness, whether in children or adults.

From the many years of clinical experience, I come to understand that emotional disturbance is the major link to illness. It is a way to run away from reality in order to avoid the emotional discomfort within.

老二在三年级的一个上午十点左右，从奶妈的家打了个电话给我，说肚子很痛，不能上学。我一时担心，马上开车去奶妈家看他。看到他手压着肚子，痛到在地上打滚，给了顺势医疗法药Colocynthis后就缓和下来。

第二和第三天，同样的在上午十点左右，接到他的电话说肚子痛，然后当我说不用上学时，他“哦”一声，就放下电话。

这孩子一路来不会那么容易生病，且这一病就是连续三天，我感觉有些不对劲。当晚，我以很玩转的方式问他学校发生了什么事，马上看到他眼睛湿了，赶快跑进我的房间。追根究底之后，原来他在学校被老师打了。因他前几天生病没上学时，老师说谁没做功课，就会被打。但因为缺课，就没做那面功课，还没来得及解释，就被老师打了。他因此感觉很委屈，就以肚子痛来找借口逃课。我配了顺势药Ignatia 给他，‘肚子痛’就好了，也就很开心的上课去了！

孩子因为被冤枉而装病，虽然不是真的肚子痛，但也是心理的困扰。把这心理问题处理之后，一切都回复正常。

小孩心理脆弱，很容易受到创伤，但因为无处可诉，唯一能逃避学校的方式是装病。心理的困扰，也是一种不可忽略的病。

从多年的临床经验，让我了解到病的其中一个原因，是不敢面对内在的不舒服感，企图逃避现实而病出来。