Sweet Chestnut

What it feels like

This is the hardest of the 38 to read about, and the one people recognize instantly if they have been there. It is the small hours, when the last of your reserves has gone and the situation has not changed. Unlike Gorse there is no calm resignation in it. There is anguish, and a sense of being utterly alone with something you cannot see a way out of. People in this state often carry on functioning, going to work, answering messages, which is why it can go completely unnoticed. If this is where you are, tell someone today. This is a place to be accompanied rather than sat in alone, and it does not last.

Signs you might need it

• You feel you have reached the absolute limit of what you can bear
• The distress is anguished rather than flat or resigned
• You feel completely alone with it
• You are still functioning outwardly while struggling badly inside
• You have been through a long stretch with no relief
• Nothing anyone says seems to reach you

What it helps with

Traditionally this remedy is associated with the moment the pressure finally gives and the light comes back after a hard stretch. It is a companion for the worst of it, and the worst of it does pass.

Not to be confused with

Gorse, which is flat and resigned rather than anguished, and Star of Bethlehem, which follows a specific shock. Sweet Chestnut is the extremity itself.