Bach flower remedies are treatments for disease that resemble homeopathy in many ways. For example, Bach flower remedies utilize the diluted extracts of certain flowers to induce a state of harmony within the patient. Bach flower remedies are by their very nature non scientific, and seek to treat the spiritual and emotional side of illness that Bach flower remedy practitioners believe is the root cause of all disorders.
Bach flower remedies were invented (or, as practitioners might say, discovered) by Dr. Edward Bach, a British physician. After an exemplary career as a western medical doctor, Dr. Bach became disenchanted with the western deconstructionist method of medical treatment and began to search for a more holistic method of treating the whole person, not just the individual parts. Dr. Bach fervently believed that the root causes of disease were not material but were rather a result of an imbalance between the soul and the mind. Such disorders could clearly not be treated by relying on western medicine, which only seeks to treat the body. Therefore, Dr. Bach began a quest to seek out alternative forms of therapy to treat the imbalance that he believed was the root cause of all disease. In this way, Dr. Bach more resembled traditional Chinese medicine practitioners who believe that all disorders are caused by imbalances than he did his western medicine colleagues who all believed that disorders could be treated by isolating the point of sickness and treating that point.
Dr. Bach believed that the essence of naturally occurring flowers could treat the bodily imbalances that were causing disorders and therefore he developed a system of treatment using the extracts of flowers diluted in a solution of brandy. Dr. Bach's system maintains that the efficacy of the flower substance is not influenced by repeated dilutions as a certain material essence remains in the solute. In this way, Bach flower remedies resemble homeopathy, which utilizes incredibly dilute solutions of various substances to treat illnesses and injuries.
Perhaps the most famous of the Bach flower remedies is the so called "rescue remedy" which is a combination of multiple flower extracts, including that of the Star of Bethlehem, the cherry plum, the rock rose, and others. Rescue remedy is said to be an effective stress reliever that is also useful for anxiety attacks and depression. Rescue remedy is typically administered with a small dropper or as a cream that is rubbed into the skin.
Other flower remedies include more than four hundred distinct flower remedies that can be used to treat anything from unfounded fear to strange dreaming to self hated and envy. Clearly, the western medical establishment is skeptical at best of the Bach flower remedies and only time will tell if the flower remedies become accepted in the future.
