IJFIRH - 2025, Volume - III, Issue - IV [October to December 2025]

e-ISSN No- 3048-6270

Published by Homoeopathic Chronicles

SINGLE REMEDY RUBRICS IN THE HOMOEOPATHIC MANAGEMENT OF SLEEPLESSNESS

Guddeti Susmitha1, H Vaishnavi DY2, Samar Chatterjee3

1PG Scholar, Department of Homoeopathic Materia Medica, JIMS Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Muchintal, Shamshabad, Telangana.

2Assistant Professor, Department of Homoeopathic Materia Medica, JIMS Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Muchintal, Shamshabad, Telangana.

3HOD & Professor, Department of Homoeopathic Materia Medica, JIMS Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Muchintal, Shamshabad, Telangana.

Article Received: 3 Nov 2025 - Accepted: 28 Nov 2025 - Article published online: 1 Dec 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59939/3048-6270.2025.v3.i4.1 

ABSTRACT

             Insomnia is a common and distressing symptom in such conditions, often exacerbating pain, psychological distress, and fatigue. Conventional sedatives provide temporary relief but are limited by tolerance, dependence, and adverse effects. Homoeopathy, based on the principle of individualization, offers a holistic approach to insomnia management by selecting remedies through characteristic symptoms, causation, and rubrics from repertories. A single remedy prescription, guided by the most characteristic rubric expressions of the patient, can address not only insomnia but also the associated mental and physical state. This individualized approach holds potential in palliative care by reducing suffering, enhancing sleep quality, and improving overall well-being without adding iatrogenic burden. The significance of causation in remedy selection is emphasized, as identifying the exciting factor behind insomnia supports precise individualization. This article explores the role of homoeopathy in the palliative management of insomnia, through single remedy rubrics prescriptions, highlighting its relevance as an integrative tool in palliative care. The study highlights the utility of single-remedy, rubric-based prescriptions in addressing both sleep disturbance and associated constitutional imbalance.

INTRODUCTION

Insomnia is also known as the Disorder of Initiation and/or Maintenance of Sleep (DIMS).

Insomnia means-

1.  Difficulty in initiating sleep (going off to sleep)

2.  Difficulty in maintaining sleep (remaining asleep)

·         Frequent awakening during the night

·         Early morning awakening.

3.  Non- restorative sleep where despite an adequate duration of sleep, there is a feeling of not having rested fully (poor quality sleep). (1)

Insomnia has a considerable public health impact due to its high prevalence, chronicity and under diagnosis. More than 30% of individals report symptoms of insomnia, yet only 15% receive clinical evaluation or treatment. A significant proportion of patients experience chronic or recurrent symptoms that affects an individual’s physical, emotional, and cognitive functioning.

Epidemiologically, insomnia shows a higher burden among women and the elderly, and around 37% of individuals report a family history, indicating possible hereditary or familial tendencies. It is also associated with marital conflict, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and persistent preoccupation with sleep quality, further increasing its social and economic burden.

         In conventional (allopathic) medicine, insomnia is often managed with the use of sedative or hypnotic drugs such as benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepine hypnotics (“Z-drugs”), or other tranquilizers. These medicines provide temporary relief by inducing artificial sleep, but they do not address the underlying cause of sleeplessness. Long-term use is limited by risks of tolerance, dependence, daytime drowsiness, and cognitive impairment.

From a homoeopathic standpoint, insomnia is not treated as an isolated symptom but as a manifestation of an underlying dynamic imbalance in the vital force.

The homoeopathic approach emphasizes totality—mental state, causation, modalities, concomitants, and characteristic expressions are evaluated to identify the most suitable remedy. Repertorization supports this process by helping differentiate remedies that share similar symptoms.

Single-remedy rubrics are particularly valuable because they highlight unique clinical situations where one remedy is strongly indicated. These rubrics enhance prescription accuracy, support faster clinical decision-making, and provide clarity and confidence in remedy selection—making them especially time-saving and effective in insomnia cases with clear causative or modality-based triggers.

DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA

         According to DSM- 5 classification-G47.00 (3)

HOMOEOPATHIC APPROACH

Aphorism §153 (6)

         In the search for a homoeopathic specific remedy… the more striking, exceptional, unusual, and peculiar (characteristic) signs and symptoms of the case of disease are chiefly and most solely to be kept in view; for it is more particularly these that very similar ones in the list of symptoms of the selected medicine must correspond to, in order to constitute it the most suitable for effecting the cure.”

         In contrast, homoeopathy approaches insomnia holistically by considering it as a symptom of a deeper dynamic imbalance and treats through the individualized remedy. It aims to restore natural, refreshing sleep by stimulating the vital force, offering safer and non-suppressive management with potential for constitutional cure.

ROLE OF CAUSATION

         In Homoeopathy, causation is one of the most significant determinants in remedy selection. Hahnemann emphasized that the exciting cause of disease must be identified whenever possible, because it often guides the physician to the most accurate and curative prescription. For insomnia, the cause behind the sleeplessness is often more important than the sleeplessness itself.

According to the homoeopathic principles:

·         Causation forms a part of the totality of symptoms.

·         When a clear, definitive cause is present, it becomes a characteristic symptom.

·         Remedies are selected not only for “insomnia” as a generic symptom, but for insomnia from a specific cause.

         Thus, causation functions as a bridge between symptom expression and individuality, ensuring that the selected remedy resonates with the inner alteration that initiated the pathology.

METHODOLOGY

         This study is a descriptive repertorial analysis aimed at identifying single remedy rubrics related to insomnia/ sleeplessness from standard homoeopathic books- Phatak’s repertory, synthesis repertory.

         Rubrics specifically listing one remedy were identified, extracted and, further grouped into mental & emotional causes, male/ female causes, environment causes, lifestyle causes, physical causes, alternating symptoms, accompanying symptoms, and rubrics in children.

BOERICKES MATERIA MEDICA (9)

·         Sleeplessness, especially of alcoholics- avena sativa.

·         Sleeplessness due to nervous causes- chininum arsenicosum.

·         Asthma, with sleeplessnsess- chloralum hydratum.

·         Sleeplessness due to overexcitement- coffea cruda.

·         Restlessness, anxiety and inability to sleep due to overthinking and exhaustion- kalium phosphoricum.

·         Disturbing dreams, nightmares and fear of dark interfering with sleep- Stramonium

ALLEN’S KEYNOTES (10)

·         Intense sleeplessness of irritable, excitable persons from business embarrassments, often imaginary- Hyoscyamus niger.

·         Restlessness and sleeplessness due to worry and grief, loss of property or reputation, from business embarrassments- kalium bromatum.

·         sleeplessness with acuteness of hearing, clock striking and cocks crowing at a great distance keep her wake- opium.

·         Sleeplessness from uterine prolapse- senecio.

·         Difficulty in falling asleep, especially in children, due to irritability- Chamomilla.

DISCUSSION

         Insomnia is a multifactorial sleep disorder arising from alterations in neurophysiological pathways involving sleep-wake cycle, hyperarousal, circadian rhythm imbalance, and neurotransmitter dysregulation. Its global prevalence ranges between 10- 30%, with higher rates among women, the elderly, and individuals with chronic medical or psychiatric conditions. Clinically, insomnia contributes to fatigue, irritability, reduced productivity and worsening of comorbid illnesses, making it significant public health problem. Common contributing factors in adults include stress, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, life style irregularities, excessive screen exposure, and substance use.

         Recent research supports the role of individualized and integrative approaches in manging insomnia. A 2025 clinical study by puri et al. demonstrated that homoeopathic remedies such as Coffea cruda, Nux vomica, Kali phos, And Arsenicum album significantly improved sleep quality, reducing PSQI scores through individualized, rubric-based prescriptions that addressed specific causations like mental overactivity, emotional stress, and lifestyle triggers (11). Complementing this evidence, a 2024 systematic review by Kaźmierczyk et al. highlighted the effectiveness of Passiflora incarnata, showing its anxiolytic and sedative actions mediated through GABAergic and serotonergic pathways, with clinical trials reporting improved sleep, reduced preoperative anxiety, and safe benzodiazepine tapering (12). Together, these studies demonstrate that both homoeopathy and herbal-phytopharmacological interventions contribute meaningful, evidence-based support for non-habit-forming, holistic management of insomnia.

         Interdisciplinary comparison reveals parallel findings: Ayurveda emphasizes mind–body imbalance and uses herbal agents like Ashwagandha and Tagara; Unani and Siddha attribute insomnia to deranged temperament or heat imbalance; whereas conventional medicine offers benzodiazepines, Z-drugs, melatonin agonists, and CBT-I. However, long-term allopathic pharmacotherapy carries risks of tolerance, dependence, and rebound insomnia. Global evidence increasingly supports personalized care, lifestyle modification, stress reduction, and botanical/herbal supplementation—approaches consistent with homoeopathic individualized treatment.

         The present repertorial study contributes by identifying single-remedy rubrics relevant to insomnia and organizing them into clinically meaningful categories such as mental–emotional causes, physical causes, lifestyle factors, environmental triggers, alternating symptoms, and rubrics in children. These rubrics enhance specificity in remedy selection, improve clinical decision-making, and support precise individualization. However, limitations include the descriptive nature of the study, absence of clinical outcome measurement, and dependence on repertorial literature without prospective validation. Future research should include clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of rubric-based single-remedy prescriptions and comparative studies with conventional or integrative approaches.

CONCLUSION

         Conventional sedatives provide only temporary relief in insomnia and are often associated with dependence, and other adverse effects. Homoeopathy, by addressing the totality of symptoms with emphasis on characteristic expressions and clear causative factors, offers an individualized and non- suppressive alternative that aims to restore natural and refreshing sleep.

         In palliative care- where comfort, emotional stability, and minimal iatrogenic burden are priorities- homoeopathic management becomes especially valuable; by reducing suffering and improving sleep quality without suppressive measures, it serves as an effective integrative approach. This study underscores the importance of causation-driven individualization and demonstrates the clinical utility of single-remedy, rubric-based prescriptions in managing insomnia and its associated constitutional imbalance.

REFERENCES

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I sincerely thank JIMSHMCH and the Department of Homoeopathic Materia Medica for their constant support, encouragement, and for providing me the opportunity to carry out and present this work.