76 – Case Study #3 Ahmad – refugee trauma, rage and more

Posted on 6th October 2024

This episode dives into detail exploring a case study on herbal support following trauma. Learn about potential herbal and nutritional options for Ahmad:

Ahmad (he/him) recently came from Afghanistan. He was on the move for several months. He said his food was ‘terrible’, there was ‘no sleep’ and that ‘many bad things happened’. He is generally young and athletic and in good health. But he has regular evenings of rage and distress and experiences suicidal thoughts. He doesn’t sleep until 4am and wakes up at midday. He has sores at the corners of his mouth and wounds that have not healed for nearly two months. He only has a supermarket voucher to get food and is not able to cook hot meals. He misses home and misses his family greatly. He is Muslim and will not use alcohol tinctures.

Links & resources from this episode

Find them all at solidarityapothecary.org/podcast/

Support the show

Music from Sole & DJ Pain – Battle of Humans | Plant illustrations by @amani_writes | In solidarity, please subscribe, rate & review this podcast wherever you listen.

Transcript
Nicole:

Welcome to the Frontline Herbalism podcast with your host, Nicole Rose from the

Nicole:

solidarity apothecary.

Nicole:

This is your place for all things plants and

Nicole:

liberation.

Nicole:

Let's get started.

Nicole:

Hello.

Nicole:

Welcome back to the Frontline Herbalism

Nicole:

podcast.

Nicole:

This is the last week to sign up to the

Nicole:

herbalism PTSD and traumatic stress course, and I am bringing you some more case studies

Nicole:

of what does herbalism look like in practice when supporting people who've experienced

Nicole:

trauma? So just a kind of content warning.

Nicole:

This episode goes into supporting someone who is a kind of asylum seeker from Afghanistan.

Nicole:

And yeah, there is kind of mention of like, border violence and police violence.

Nicole:

So, yeah, I wanted to say as well that I've been trying to collate some resources for

Nicole:

people doing kind of herbal solidarity work in response to the hurricane in North Carolina

Nicole:

and other places in the US.

Nicole:

So, yeah, I'm gonna put the links in the show

Nicole:

notes, and I'm gonna try and get a kind of more comprehensive newsletter and post out

Nicole:

about that.

Nicole:

I know people on the ground are like, already,

Nicole:

you know, just like all over it, but it's more like for folks not in that location who are up

Nicole:

for kind of donating.

Nicole:

So. Yeah, but, yeah, just want to say again,

Nicole:

the course is open for enrollment, not for much longer.

Nicole:

And yeah, I hope you find this case study interesting.

Nicole:

If you don't know what these terms are, I'm really sorry.

Nicole:

I go into them all in depth in the course, you know, what these different herbal actions are

Nicole:

and different kind of detailed plant profiles about all the plants mentioned.

Nicole:

So, yeah, hopefully you learned something and it's interesting.

Nicole:

Let me know what you think.

Nicole:

I. Okay, take care.

Nicole:

Thanks.

Nicole:

Okay.

Nicole:

Ahmed.

Nicole:

Ahmed.

Nicole:

He. Him recently came from Afghanistan.

Nicole:

He was on the move for several months.

Nicole:

He said his food was terrible, there was no sleep, and that many bad things happened.

Nicole:

He is generally young and athletic and in good health, but he has regular evenings of rage

Nicole:

and distress and experiences suicidal thoughts.

Nicole:

He doesn't sleep until 04:00 a.m. and wakes up at midday.

Nicole:

He has sores at the corner of his mouth and wounds that have not healed for nearly two

Nicole:

months.

Nicole:

He only has a supermarket voucher to get food

Nicole:

and is not able to cook hot meals.

Nicole:

He misses home and misses his family greatly.

Nicole:

He is muslim and will not use alcohol tinctures.

Nicole:

Okay.

Nicole:

So similar to the other case studies, I will

Nicole:

work through kind of looking at ruling out any herbs in terms of medication and allergies,

Nicole:

sleep, nervous system state, digestion, nutrition, and inflammation.

Nicole:

So, yeah, let's.

Nicole:

Let's get started.

Nicole:

So he's not on any medication, doesn't have any known allergies, which makes life easier,

Nicole:

definitely, in terms of recommendations.

Nicole:

Okay, sleep.

Nicole:

So he doesn't sleep until 04:00 a.m. but does sleep until midday generally.

Nicole:

So that is around 8 hours.

Nicole:

But he has experienced kind of much longer

Nicole:

term sleep deprivation, you know, like, several months on the move.

Nicole:

You know, for people who are listening, who are maybe, like, less plugged into kind of

Nicole:

refugee solidarity stuff, like people maybe traveling for several months, you know,

Nicole:

crossing different borders.

Nicole:

They might be sleeping in, you know, in kind

Nicole:

of under bridges and, you know, as you would if you were a rough sleeper.

Nicole:

Or they might be living in kind of encampments, like, somewhere like, you know,

Nicole:

calais or Dunkirk, or, you know, they might be having to cross country kind of, you know,

Nicole:

woodland, especially.

Nicole:

People coming down from this kind of, like,

Nicole:

polish route that, you know, they're kind of moving through some of the, like, densest,

Nicole:

oldest forests in Europe.

Nicole:

You know, people even have to cross, like,

Nicole:

rivers sometimes and have super wet clothes.

Nicole:

People can be in their own clothes for kind of

Nicole:

weeks or months at a time.

Nicole:

You know, have lots of health issues, like

Nicole:

scabies and different things.

Nicole:

You know, regular.

Nicole:

Regular kind of police violence, know, violent pushbacks, kind of being driven back across

Nicole:

the border by border cops, you know, beaten, stripped naked, humiliated, like, just like,

Nicole:

literally, like, there's a project called the border Violence monitoring network, I think it

Nicole:

is, or project.

Nicole:

And, yeah, they do kind of reports of violence

Nicole:

that people are experiencing.

Nicole:

And, yeah, it.

Nicole:

Yeah, it's, you know, it's just ******* unimaginable.

Nicole:

And, as we know, like, extremely, like, completely racialized.

Nicole:

Okay, so, yeah, so he was on the move for several months, so he would have been living

Nicole:

in these really bad conditions.

Nicole:

So, yeah, this kind of longer term sleep

Nicole:

deprivation where, you know, you're maybe getting a few hours, like, in the early hours

Nicole:

of the night or maybe in the morning, you know, because you can't sleep at night because

Nicole:

you're cold.

Nicole:

Or maybe you get to stay somewhere in a tent,

Nicole:

and that's, like, the first time you've had a chance to sleep, but you might still be

Nicole:

frightened because you owe a smuggler money or, you know, like, there's just, like, so

Nicole:

many options.

Nicole:

But, yeah, we're looking at kind of very long

Nicole:

term sleep deprivation.

Nicole:

And, yeah, we're gonna.

Nicole:

Yeah, what I'm gonna do, actually, is I'm gonna, yeah, kind of mix the sleep and the

Nicole:

nervous system state stuff together because he's, you know, he's clearly often in this

Nicole:

kind of fight.

Nicole:

Like, fight or flight, like, highly activated

Nicole:

nervous system state.

Nicole:

You know, to experience rage.

Nicole:

Like, that's a real high activation, high energy, like, level of distress.

Nicole:

Right.

Nicole:

Suicidality.

Nicole:

Like, I've run a training before about kind of abolitionist approaches to suicide, which I'd

Nicole:

really like to record for my web.

Nicole:

I did it for a group called Solidarity

Nicole:

detainee support, who used to be so *** detainee support who support people in

Nicole:

detention centers.

Nicole:

But, you know, there is quite a unique suicide

Nicole:

mode in terms of neurobiology, where someone is kind of in fight or flight, but is also

Nicole:

potentially calm as well.

Nicole:

And, you know, it's like its own level of kind

Nicole:

of distress where, you know, someone is kind of not able to potentially.

Nicole:

Yeah.

Nicole:

Be anywhere near sort of safe and social or

Nicole:

think, you know, about options or strategies or reasons to stay alive.

Nicole:

It's kind of in this, like, default state or not default based in this, again, high

Nicole:

activation state where it feels like suicide is, like, literally the only.

Nicole:

The only answer, like, the only response to the current levels of distress that someone is

Nicole:

experiencing.

Nicole:

So, yeah, he's clearly really super, super

Nicole:

activated.

Nicole:

So, yeah, so what would I be thinking kind of

Nicole:

nervous system wise, or, you know, sleep wise? Like, in terms of his circadian rhythms,

Nicole:

they're obviously kind of all over the shop.

Nicole:

Right.

Nicole:

And that's probably because he's had quite a nocturnal life.

Nicole:

And being in fight or flight so much really, like, knocks out our, like, sleep rhythms.

Nicole:

You know, there's probably other things going on, like nutritional deficiencies, for

Nicole:

example, which I'll talk about in the nutrition section, but things like vitamin D

Nicole:

really, like, knock your sleep around.

Nicole:

Magnesium deficiency really prevents you from

Nicole:

sleeping at a kind of, like, appropriate hour.

Nicole:

So, yeah, I would be thinking about

Nicole:

supplements.

Nicole:

I'll talk about that in a little bit.

Nicole:

But in terms of, like, actually getting to sleep, you know, we might be thinking about

Nicole:

our kind of talking about sleep.

Nicole:

It's like newborn life.

Nicole:

Yeah, we might be thinking about, you know, kind of sedatives.

Nicole:

So, yeah, just to run through these, there's, like, mother war, for example, which is, you

Nicole:

know, it's not, like, as hypnotic as some other sedatives, but it's definitely has kind

Nicole:

of instantaneous relaxant effect on the nervous system, especially for those, like,

Nicole:

really tense feelings of kind of panic and distress.

Nicole:

I, you know, I talk about motherwort in my panic attack blends.

Nicole:

Like, I've got a free guide to kind of herbal support for panic attacks.

Nicole:

So, yeah, that's.

Nicole:

That's an option.

Nicole:

The only challenge I found is that I haven't found it very effective as a glycerite.

Nicole:

And obviously, he can't take alcohol, so I would need to.

Nicole:

Yeah, I'd need to experiment in getting much stronger glycerite rather than, you know,

Nicole:

giving him a tincture.

Nicole:

Hops is, you know, it's.

Nicole:

It's another herb I talk about in the course.

Nicole:

It's not always the best for everyone, but,

Nicole:

you know, it has also got this kind of sedative action, like it's worth putting on

Nicole:

the table.

Nicole:

Skullcap, I've talked about a lot.

Nicole:

I don't know which order people are listening to these in, so I kind of need to refresh with

Nicole:

each herb.

Nicole:

But, yeah, skullcap is a plant that I go into

Nicole:

depth with in my PTSD course.

Nicole:

It's like a fantastic, um, nervous system

Nicole:

tonic, you know, real tropho restorative in terms of repairing the sort of structure and

Nicole:

function of the nervous system.

Nicole:

And, yeah, I think skullcap would be really

Nicole:

beautiful here because it's having that.

Nicole:

It's like a dual action.

Nicole:

Right.

Nicole:

So it's having that kind of sedative, like,

Nicole:

gentle effect, but it's also, like, nourishing and has, like, a tonic, and it's full of b

Nicole:

vitamins and things.

Nicole:

So, yeah, I would definitely be thinking of

Nicole:

skullcap.

Nicole:

And also you can take it as a t. And I think

Nicole:

the nice thing about skullcap is that it, like, it eases you in.

Nicole:

Like, it gives you, like, a good hour of parasympathetic time before you fall asleep.

Nicole:

Whereas other sedatives, like Valerian and wild lettuce, which are also definitely

Nicole:

options, they have a bit more of a, like, punchy, right now you're out kind of thing.

Nicole:

Whereas I think skullcap is more of a, like, giving you, like, a little cuddle before bed.

Nicole:

But, yeah, Valerian's definitely an option.

Nicole:

I would be very anxious if he was someone that

Nicole:

was sensitive to Valerian, about causing harm with Valerian.

Nicole:

But if he's someone, like most people are sedated kind of by Valerian, and it's, like,

Nicole:

fantastic in terms of anti anxiety actions.

Nicole:

So, yeah, I think Valerian could potentially

Nicole:

be great wild lettuce.

Nicole:

Again, it wouldn't maybe be my first point of

Nicole:

call, because it's so sedative in nature, but it could be good if nothing else is working,

Nicole:

really.

Nicole:

Like, if he's really struggling to get to

Nicole:

sleep, like, it might do the job.

Nicole:

I gave a client that I was supporting, like a

Nicole:

kind of mix with wild lettuce in and like, yeah, every time they took it, they just slept

Nicole:

through, like, all their alarms and slept till like, midday.

Nicole:

So, yeah, maybe wild lettuce could be good and he might start getting, you know, 12 hours of

Nicole:

sleep a night instead, which would be wonderful, like, in this kind of stage of

Nicole:

recovery.

Nicole:

But yeah, I would, as I've talked about before

Nicole:

in the PTSD course, like, I would, you know, the way we get to sleep better at night is by

Nicole:

reducing the level of nervous system activation through the daytime.

Nicole:

So we're going to really be thinking about daytime relaxants to reduce that kind of

Nicole:

overall charge and reduce the risk of getting, like, really acutely distressed in the

Nicole:

evenings.

Nicole:

So chamomile, you know, fantastic for gut

Nicole:

stuff, fantastic for anxiety.

Nicole:

Really amazing.

Nicole:

I think, at like, toning down that kind of background anxiety.

Nicole:

Lavender similar.

Nicole:

It's just so gentle and nourishing and I

Nicole:

think, you know, we could also think about like, an infused lavender oil, for example,

Nicole:

if, you know, taking things internally wasn't in this person's comfort zone.

Nicole:

For example, lemon balm would be wonderful.

Nicole:

Again, it's like, it's not only a gentle

Nicole:

relaxant, but it is also kind of uplifting a bit.

Nicole:

And I think if you've experienced, like, so much trauma and kind of negativity in the

Nicole:

sense of, like, oppression, not in terms of, like, oh, you have a negative attitude, but in

Nicole:

time because, you know, like, loads of people on the move are, like, seriously focused and

Nicole:

optimistic about getting to the UK or getting to wherever they want to get to and, you know,

Nicole:

are hugely ambitious and things.

Nicole:

So it's like, I don't want to give the

Nicole:

impression that everyone on the move is like, super depressed.

Nicole:

You know, it's just.

Nicole:

I think lemon balm, it's a really joyful herb.

Nicole:

Like, for people who've experienced a lot of ******* horrible trauma, like people coming

Nicole:

out of prison, I think lemon balm is just this, like, luscious, kind of like bouncy

Nicole:

friend.

Nicole:

You know, Hawthorne, you know, if you think

Nicole:

he's been in kind of chronic fight or flight, his levels of rage and distress, like, there's

Nicole:

going to be a lot of kind cardiac stuff going on.

Nicole:

So Hawthorne's going to be really nourishing for his heart and his blood vessels.

Nicole:

Rose, you know, again, just like, put rose in everywhere.

Nicole:

But yeah, I think in terms of grief and, you know, like, roses are, you know, a popular

Nicole:

flower in Afghanistan and stuff.

Nicole:

So there might be that kind of like, emotional

Nicole:

relationship with Rose.

Nicole:

It's also very cooling for information and

Nicole:

cooling for someone who's very hot in terms of distress and activation, you know, and also

Nicole:

very tending in terms of, like, grief.

Nicole:

You know, it's mentioned in the case study

Nicole:

about him missing home a lot and missing his family, so, yeah, for that kind of heartache.

Nicole:

And then in terms of nerve tonics, I've mentioned skullcap vervain could be an option

Nicole:

for this long term chronic kind of burnout, you know, from this, like, relentless journey.

Nicole:

But I think, again, it's not amazing as a glycerite, if you've had success with it, I'd

Nicole:

love to hear from you because I think I need to, like, up my game with a verving glycerite.

Nicole:

Maybe it's because I never get to harvest enough of the herb, but, yeah, definitely

Nicole:

wouldn't include anything like schisandra because of, like, the heat signs.

Nicole:

Like, no, no, no, to, like, ashwagandha or anything kind of stimulating.

Nicole:

Like, that's.

Nicole:

That's always my perspective, is that it can

Nicole:

be.

Nicole:

It can really worsen PTSD.

Nicole:

The other thing that Ahmed's got going for him is that he's actually in good health.

Nicole:

Like, he's very athletic, he's young, so he's not had time for this kind of, like, hardcore

Nicole:

inflammation to build up.

Nicole:

You know, he's.

Nicole:

Yeah, he's kind of like Fitzhe, if that makes sense.

Nicole:

So, yeah, we're kind of looking.

Nicole:

You know, it's quite different to someone

Nicole:

who's had really hardcore long term depletion, even though, you know, he's, like, could have

Nicole:

understandably grown up, you know, with loads of tourism as well.

Nicole:

We don't know about his background before making his journey, so I don't want to assume

Nicole:

anything, but, yeah, I think if someone's had, like, it's.

Nicole:

There's a difference between, like, six months of, like, horrifying stress versus, like, 50

Nicole:

years of horrifying stress.

Nicole:

Does that make sense in terms of kind of nerve

Nicole:

tonics and, like, you know, wear and tear of the nervous system?

Nicole:

Okay, so, yeah, mentioned Hawthorne and rose.

Nicole:

Yeah, a licorice could be nice for this kind

Nicole:

of, like, adrenal burnout.

Nicole:

Like, again, I would only just include a

Nicole:

gentle bit of licorice in a blend.

Nicole:

You know, he's not on any medication.

Nicole:

I don't know the state of his blood pressure.

Nicole:

That would be something if I was supporting

Nicole:

him face to face, that I'd really want to check out.

Nicole:

You know, could potentially be having high blood pressure with these kind of rage

Nicole:

episodes.

Nicole:

Milky oats.

Nicole:

Again, super safe, nourishing, wonderful tonic for the nervous system, I would definitely

Nicole:

include some milky oats.

Nicole:

Tulsi would be beautiful.

Nicole:

It's a plant that I talk about in the course that's, you know, kind of used traditionally

Nicole:

across various parts of Asia, including in ayurvedic medicine.

Nicole:

And I think, yeah, I looked it up, and it's also used in Afghanistan.

Nicole:

So it's getting, you know, it could be a little bit warming in terms of, you know,

Nicole:

supporting kind of blood flow, like, to the brain and things.

Nicole:

Like, it's quite cognitive y, but, like, I think for Ahmed, it's like, you know,

Nicole:

sometimes distress is from a lot of, kind of, like, mental distress.

Nicole:

Like, sometimes distress is just pure trauma felt everywhere in the body.

Nicole:

And sometimes distress is like.

Nicole:

It's kind of like an outcome from these, like,

Nicole:

racing thoughts and hyper anxiety and kind of, you know, like, unrelenting processing.

Nicole:

Kind of like, my partner has ADHD, and it's just like, you know, you see all these, like,

Nicole:

happy dancing videos on ****** instagram about, oh, ha ha.

Nicole:

Like, they're so hyperactive and messy.

Nicole:

But it's like, actually, it's so distressing

Nicole:

for him to have 500,000 thoughts going, you know, and not be able to get anywhere mentally

Nicole:

because of just, like, the volume of thoughts.

Nicole:

So I kind of think tulsi's very, like, toning

Nicole:

and clarifying for that kind of thinking.

Nicole:

And I think for, yeah, when I felt suicidal or

Nicole:

when I've supported people feeling suicidal, like, it often is accompanied by this, like,

Nicole:

racing, like, impulse thoughts of, like, I have to do this, or this is the only option,

Nicole:

or, you know, so tulsi might be good in that respect.

Nicole:

Okay, so digestion, we don't have kind of any info on that, unfortunately.

Nicole:

It's something I would definitely query.

Nicole:

Yeah.

Nicole:

You know, because I hate to say it, but a lot of, like, distress can often be from things

Nicole:

like gluten.

Nicole:

You know, and I've noticed when working in

Nicole:

Calais for several years, like, people are not used to the, like, kinds of, like, hyper

Nicole:

industrialized, like, wheat we have here, and, like, often develop kind of gluten intolerance

Nicole:

here.

Nicole:

So, yeah, and if I have gluten, it literally

Nicole:

makes me want to die.

Nicole:

So, like, you know, it is worth kind of

Nicole:

potentially screening.

Nicole:

Yeah.

Nicole:

In terms of nutrition, obviously.

Nicole:

Like, there's just vast amounts of, like,

Nicole:

oppression, and it just.

Nicole:

It just makes me full of rage, like, how

Nicole:

people are treated who are seeking asylum.

Nicole:

But, you know, in a lot of, like, the hotels

Nicole:

and things where people are staying, like, there's not an option to cook.

Nicole:

Or maybe there's, like, one tiny kitchen and, like, several people all cook together or

Nicole:

something.

Nicole:

But, like, I know through the pandemic, like,

Nicole:

people were having meals, like, dropped outside their doors, stuff like this.

Nicole:

Yeah.

Nicole:

And it's going to be, like, very different

Nicole:

food.

Nicole:

Not enough calories or nutrients.

Nicole:

You know, he's gonna be experiencing, like, long term nutritional deficiencies because of

Nicole:

kind of traveling and having, like, bouts of, like, really intense kind of hunger.

Nicole:

Like, that's gonna be messing around with all his kind of, you know, like, metabolic

Nicole:

signaling.

Nicole:

Like, all the things, like, you know, to kind

Nicole:

of go without food is, like, very traumatic.

Nicole:

Like, my insulin levels are, like, something I

Nicole:

need to keep an eye on because of.

Nicole:

Because of, like, chronic stress.

Nicole:

Like, I think that's a bit of an axis for me in terms of vulnerability, but I often think,

Nicole:

is it a relationship to stuff I've been through?

Nicole:

Like, you know, like, as a kid, my mom would kind of ask us to go to, like, our friends

Nicole:

houses to eat and stuff.

Nicole:

She couldn't afford to feed us always.

Nicole:

And, like, you know, there was always this kind of, like, scarcity relationship to food.

Nicole:

And then when I was in prison, like, I just remember having to, like, sleep on my front

Nicole:

because I was just so hungry, like, all the time.

Nicole:

And, you know, like, that kind of, like, imposed starvation on the body, like, really

Nicole:

does trigger a lot of different kind of relationships with blood sugar and fats and

Nicole:

stuff.

Nicole:

So, yeah, it's just like, an interesting kind

Nicole:

of, you know, thing to note.

Nicole:

Okay.

Nicole:

The sores on his mouth, this, you know, this is.

Nicole:

His body is telling us something, right? Like, I would.

Nicole:

I would really be thinking about b twelve deficiency.

Nicole:

Like, if I could give him one supplement, it would be b twelve.

Nicole:

You know, I would want to just nourish him.

Nicole:

So much of nutritive herbs.

Nicole:

You know, I'm thinking about, like, all the berries, like hawthorn and elderberry, full of

Nicole:

antioxidants, you know, rose hips, loads of vitamin C, skullcap I've mentioned with, like,

Nicole:

the B vitamins, milky oats.

Nicole:

Yeah, I would be really thinking about that

Nicole:

kind of, like, optimum nourishment.

Nicole:

Maybe like a really nice, like, iron tonic

Nicole:

with some of these things, like, strongly infused.

Nicole:

And then in terms of inflammation, like, he's obviously got a compromised immune system,

Nicole:

right? Like, because of this slow wound healing.

Nicole:

And, you know, it, like, it's really difficult.

Nicole:

Like, in France, we obviously see lots of people with, like, chronic infections, and

Nicole:

it's kind of, like, I don't know if it is actually that their immune systems are that

Nicole:

intrinsically, like, underactive? I think it is just, like, the unrelenting,

Nicole:

like, brutality of the conditions.

Nicole:

Like, how can you heal a wound if you don't

Nicole:

have access to, like, clean bedding or a shower, or to change your dressings, or to,

Nicole:

like, apply, like, some sort of antibacterial spray or, like, wound cleaning, you know,

Nicole:

like, of course wounds are going to get worse and worse and worse without that kind of,

Nicole:

like, TLC and, like, tending to.

Nicole:

But, yeah, I would be really thinking about

Nicole:

immune tonics.

Nicole:

So, like, these nutritive herbs we've talked

Nicole:

about before, you know, like, rose hips and things.

Nicole:

Like, I. You know, the immune tonic we make for Calais or that I made for Ukraine, it's a

Nicole:

bit different because it includes tinctures, but I could 100% do, like, a full glycerite

Nicole:

blend for Ahmed.

Nicole:

So, you know, things like turmeric and ginger

Nicole:

and thyme and echinacea and elderberry.

Nicole:

Like, that would be fantastic.

Nicole:

Like, what we do in Calais with the mobile herbal clinic is, like, for anyone that we're

Nicole:

doing a wound dressing for, we'll give them an immune tonic as well, just to kind of, you

Nicole:

know, strengthen their system.

Nicole:

Yeah, I would be really thinking about sort of

Nicole:

antimicrobial herbs here.

Nicole:

So chamomile, we've talked about not only just

Nicole:

a fantastic gentle accent, but also, you know, really fantastic in terms of gut microbiome

Nicole:

stuff like lavender, essential oil, could be quite good.

Nicole:

Lemon balm is also very antiviral.

Nicole:

Motherwort, for example, is active against,

Nicole:

like, the herpes virus.

Nicole:

Ideally, I would get him to a doctor, and I'd

Nicole:

get him to have, like, tests, right.

Nicole:

To see what's going on in terms of

Nicole:

microbiology.

Nicole:

Skullcap, like, in Calais, we use bical

Nicole:

skullcap, which is, like, really fantastic.

Nicole:

Like, broad spectrum antimicrobial.

Nicole:

We kind of use the powder and add it to a bit of aloe vera gel and, like, apply it to wound

Nicole:

dressings.

Nicole:

So, yeah, what I'd be doing with him, if I was

Nicole:

meeting him face to face, is I'd be showing him, like, okay, here's how.

Nicole:

Here's how you tend to your wounds, right? I'd give him a whole stack of dressings, like,

Nicole:

you know, wipes for his hands.

Nicole:

You know, show him how to do it.

Nicole:

Like, we'd be cleaning them regularly, reapplying the dressing, you know, with the

Nicole:

skull cap and the aloe vera gel.

Nicole:

Or, like, the wound spray we use in Calais is

Nicole:

like a mix of calendula, myrrh, and water that would be fantastic.

Nicole:

But, yeah, in terms of other nerve tonics, like bettany, for example, also has, like, an

Nicole:

antiseptic action.

Nicole:

Licorice is also antiviral.

Nicole:

So again, like, with herbalism, it is all about sort of stacking functions.

Nicole:

Yeah, sage is also an option.

Nicole:

And sage is like this kind of stimulating,

Nicole:

uplifting nerve eye.

Nicole:

Obviously, sage is like, I go into all of the

Nicole:

safety stuff with all of these plants in the course.

Nicole:

There's, like 32 plant profiles with overview of each plant and contraindications and links

Nicole:

to research papers and things.

Nicole:

And Sage, I'd only want to be giving it for a

Nicole:

few weeks, but, yeah, also in terms of his kind of mouth ulcers, like linden, for

Nicole:

example, lime tree flower, which could be a really wonderful relaxant for him for the

Nicole:

evening.

Nicole:

So I should have put that in the nervous

Nicole:

system section.

Nicole:

And, like, a linden gargle is, like, fantastic

Nicole:

for mouth ulcers.

Nicole:

Okay, so that's kind of, like, run through of

Nicole:

my notes.

Nicole:

But, yeah, I would.

Nicole:

If, you know, if he's struggling in terms of English, I would want to make sure that my

Nicole:

instructions were kind of translated so he could understand how to take things.

Nicole:

I'd make sure everything was, like, labeled well.

Nicole:

And again, I would, like, keep it simple.

Nicole:

I would be like, okay, take this blend in the

Nicole:

daytime, take this blend at nighttime, and take this tea, like, 1 hour before bedtail.

Nicole:

Like just that, for example, you know? And in those blends, you have your wonderful

Nicole:

daytime relaxants.

Nicole:

You have your kind of antimicrobials and

Nicole:

immune support, you know, because something like elderberry, for example, like, it's not

Nicole:

only, like, super nutritive for the immune system.

Nicole:

Like, it's also, like, a real nervine.

Nicole:

Like, it's wonderful for, you know, kind of

Nicole:

musculoskeletal pain and kind of long term chronic stress.

Nicole:

And then, yeah, in the herbalism, PTSD and traumatic stress course, you know, there's

Nicole:

like, a whole module all about, like, collective responses to stress.

Nicole:

So it's never just like, oh, hey, like, we give you these blends and, like, everything's

Nicole:

fine, right? Like, it's always, like, accompanied, you

Nicole:

know, by other things.

Nicole:

So it might be like, okay, let's find, you

Nicole:

know, like, a cricket club where he can play and he can, like, connect with the local

Nicole:

community and be physical and kind of make friends.

Nicole:

Or, you know, maybe there's english lessons.

Nicole:

Maybe there's, like, a local no borders group

Nicole:

that can help with things.

Nicole:

Like, you know, like, it's.

Nicole:

Yeah, it's kind of, you know, it's like the whole thing, right?

Nicole:

In terms of, like, collective responses, you know, connecting him.

Nicole:

You know, maybe he's already got family in the UK.

Nicole:

Maybe he needs to be connected to people from his region here, for example.

Nicole:

That's super important.

Nicole:

So, yeah, all that kind of organizing and

Nicole:

solidarity stuff is really important.

Nicole:

And, you know, as we've seen in terms of,

Nicole:

like, the far right and fascist violence, like, you know, we need to make sure people

Nicole:

feel, like, seriously ******* welcome and, like, we're actually keeping people safe, you

Nicole:

know, keeping each other safe.

Nicole:

Oh, yeah.

Nicole:

Just on a side note, I mentioned about nutrition, but I would, like, really go for

Nicole:

some kind of, you know, quality multivitamin or mineral magnesium salts.

Nicole:

You know, he probably doesn't have access to a bath, but if he did, like, some amazing

Nicole:

evening bath with epsom salts and some essential oils in there and maybe some dried

Nicole:

herbs, like, that would be so nice.

Nicole:

Like, you could gift that to someone.

Nicole:

You know, you could put that in a care package.

Nicole:

You know, imagine in the evenings having an Epsom salt bath where you're topping up all

Nicole:

your magnesium levels and then, you know, massaging yourself with lavender oil, having

Nicole:

cup of skullcap tea.

Nicole:

Like, can you imagine, like, how much nicer

Nicole:

you would sleep? Like, following that kind of, like, you know,

Nicole:

care, like, of the self and stuff.

Nicole:

And how nice it would feel to know, like, oh,

Nicole:

someone's made up these medicines for you.

Nicole:

Like, I just.

Nicole:

Yeah, I think.

Nicole:

I think herbal solidarity works in so many

Nicole:

different ways on so many different, like, intersecting layers of, like, it's not just

Nicole:

the, like, materialistic kind of action in the body.

Nicole:

It's also the energetics.

Nicole:

It's the spiritual relationship.

Nicole:

It's feeling supported and taken care of.

Nicole:

Like, it's so buffering to trauma anyway.

Nicole:

But, yeah, that's where I would go here.

Nicole:

I have done various care packages for people.

Nicole:

Yeah.

Nicole:

In hotels and things.

Nicole:

But if you are part of, like, a refugee solidarity group and that's something that

Nicole:

interests you, you know, let us know.

Nicole:

Like, we'd really love to organize more sort

Nicole:

of, like, medicine making and stuff with the mobile herbal clinic.

Nicole:

Yeah.

Nicole:

So anyway, I'm going to, like, release a whole

Nicole:

herbal solidarity survey soon with kind of.

Nicole:

Yeah, I just want to kind of redesign how I'm

Nicole:

doing everything, really.

Nicole:

So, yeah, anyway, thanks for listening, and,

Nicole:

yeah, just again, please sign up to the course.

Nicole:

I'm going to close it next Sunday.

Nicole:

So, yeah, take care.

Nicole:

Thanks.

Nicole:

Thanks so much for listening to the frontline

Nicole:

herbalism podcast.

Nicole:

You can find the transcript, the links, all

Nicole:

the resources from the show at solidarity apothecary.org.org podcast.