He does not want to kill himself, he resists the thoughts, and yet they persist, and he is tormented by these thoughts. There are persistent thoughts in many remedies, and it is necessary to distinguish between impulses and desires. If he desires to have a rope or a knife to commit suicide, that is altogether different from an impulse to commit suicide. An impulse is sometimes overwhelming and overbalances the mind, and he commits suicide. You should always find out from a patient whether he loathes life and wants to die, or if he has impulses which he wishes to put aside.
Some persons lie awake at night and long for death, and there is no reason for it.
That is a state of the will, insanity of the will. In another patient the thoughts jump into his mind and he cannot put them aside, and the thoughts are tormenting. The distinguishing feature of the remedy is often found by differentiating between the two. Headaches as if the skull would split when moving the head, when walking or coughing. Feeling as if the head were large, aggravated by coughing and stepping, ameliorated by lying with the head high.