One fine summer afternoon we were at a friends house and the kids were playing in the pool. There was a shallow end and a deep end. The younger kids who lacked adequate swimming skills were keeping to the shallow end of the pool with flotation devices. Older children with strong swimming skills were posted as guards to keep an eye on younger siblings and friends.

Even with flotation devices and objects to help you stay above water children will sometimes slip under momentarily. When one of my sons went under the water momentarily his brother quickly helped him to the surface.

As there was no actual near drowning, but instead just a few unexpected unpleasant seconds under water, there was little drama created at the time. Despite the event being past and rather forgetful by everyone else the recovered boy was still unnerved by this experience. This unsettled feeling was not evident or expressed at the time however.

Later on that day, after returning home, he started whimpering and crying. It took a long time to actually figure out why he was behaving this way because he didn’t want to talk about it.

After coaxing it out of him, I understood he was, in a way, reliving the experience. Though his life was never actually in danger he still perceived it to have been. He was given Aconite (Aconitum nepellus) for the shock and fear from the situation and he soon calmed down. Later, he started to panic again and Aconite was repeated. Every time that feeling returned he was given Aconite again. The episodes of panic happened less and less frequently and, after a couple days, never returned.

Even though this was not actually a near death experience, my son felt like it was. We must remember, when using homeopathics, it isn’t how the bystander perceives the experience but how the individual does. I doesn't matter I thought he was overreacting. His reaction mattered. He was put into a state of shock and panic by the momentary slip and that is what the Aconite was able to help with.