Impatiens vs Vervain
Impatiens wants it done. Vervain wants you to agree. One is irritated by pace and the other is driven by a cause, and they wind down in completely different ways.
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Why they get muddled
Both are fast, both are intense, and both finish the day with their shoulders up around their ears. Both also get described as a lot by people who are neither. The difference is what all that intensity is actually about.
The differences
What drives it
Impatiens
Speed. Everything else appears to be happening in slow motion.
Vervain
Conviction. You are right, and if they would only understand they would agree.
How it lands on other people
Impatiens
You would rather work alone than watch somebody work slowly.
Vervain
You are still making the case at dinner, twenty minutes after it should have moved on.
How it flares
Impatiens
Fast and short. You are over it before the other person is.
Vervain
Not really a flare. It is a sustained burn that can run for weeks.
What exhausts you
Impatiens
Waiting.
Vervain
Not being able to put it down. You are tireless until suddenly you are not.
Which one to pick
Choose Impatiens if
- You walk fast, eat fast and finish other people's sentences
- The irritation flares and passes in about a minute
- You end up doing things alone because it is quicker
Choose Vervain if
- You take on more than anybody should, for things nobody asked you to do
- You are still making the argument long after everyone has moved on
- You lie in bed with your mind at full speed on something that will keep until Monday
What if both sound right?
They combine in the familiar person who cares enormously and has no patience for how slowly the world is getting there. If that is you, both belong in the bottle, and Vervain is usually the one that makes winding down possible at all.
Common questions
Which one for someone who cannot switch off?
Vervain. The picture Bach described includes lying awake at full speed on something that could easily wait, and shoulders that have been up for two weeks. Impatiens people are quick but they do stop, because the irritation passes as soon as the slow thing is over.
Is Vervain the remedy for working too hard?
It is the one for working too hard because you care too much to stop, which is a particular flavor of it. If the reason you cannot stop is that stopping would let people down, read Oak instead, and if you are simply worn out by a long stretch of effort, Olive.
Where does Vine fit in?
Vine is the third remedy in this area and the difference is argument. Vervain wants to convince you and will keep going until you agree. Vine does not bother convincing anybody, it decides and expects that to be the end of it.
Keep narrowing
The pairs closest to this one, if neither of these two turns out to be it.
ImpatiensvsBeech
Impatiens is irritated by how slowly things move. Beech is irritated by how other people are. One is about speed, the other about habits.
Cherry PlumvsImpatiens
Impatiens snaps. Cherry Plum is afraid of what it might do. If the problem is the temper itself, that is Impatiens. If the problem is that you no longer trust yourself to hold it, that is Cherry Plum.
Rock RosevsCherry Plum
Rock Rose is terror at something happening to you. Cherry Plum is fear of what you might do. The question to ask is whether the danger feels outside you or inside you.
Crab ApplevsRock Water
Crab Apple is about how you feel about yourself. Rock Water is about the rules you keep. One wants to be clean and the other wants to be good, and they do not answer to the same remedy.
Still not sure?
Read both profiles in full, or start from the feeling and let the quiz narrow it for you.