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AGRIMONY
ASPEN
BEECH
CENTAURY
CERATO
CHERRY PLUM
CHESTNUT BUD
CHICORY
CLEMATIS
CRAB APPLE
ELM
GENTIAN
GORSE
HEATHER
HOLLY
HONEYSUCKLE
HORNBEAM
IMPATIENS
LARCH
MIMULUS
MUSTARD
OAK
OLIVE
PINE
RED CHESTNUT
RESCUE REMEDY
ROCK ROSE
ROCK WATER
SCLERANTHUS
STAROF BETHLEHEM
SWEET CHESTNUT
VERVAIN
VINE
WALNUT
WATER VIOLET
WHITE CHESTNUT
WILD OAT
WILD ROSE
WILLOW

The remedy Cherry Plum belongs to the group of For Those who Have Fear, as classified by Bach. Further remedies in this group are Rock Rose, Mimulus, Aspen, and Red Chestnut. Specifically, Cherry Plum treats the fear of losing reason and mental control in face of unwanted impulses, dreaded urges, or strong mental pressures.

In the Cherry Plum state, the mind is overstrained and out of balance. This state may come on after prolonged mental effort, especially when achieved with great strength of will and forceful concentration despite failing nerve power and exhaustion. Or it may be the result of unanswered vital needs and pressures, either consciously experienced or active in the unconscious, that cannot be satisfied but nonetheless send impulses of thought to the mind, as if crying for recognition.
In both cases, the result is a flooding of the mind with unwanted thought content that is strongly resisted, since it is shocking in nature, considered antisocial, dangerous to oneself or others, or bizarre. The person in this state tries desperately to stay normal within, to balance continually the
reasonable faculties in face of these unusual mental pressures. As these forces are opposed vehemently, they respond with heightened intensity; mental strain is escalating, and there arises the fear that all balance will be lost and the impulsive, unwanted thoughts will win. This is the typical Cherry Plum fear.
There are varying degrees of the Cherry Plum state. In lighter cases, the person may just do thought control, trying to purify the mind or reasserting reason and self-esteem over embarrassing, unwanted, or unnerving, agitating thought content or imaginings. Cherry Plum can be of service in nervousness, shyness, and stage fright, these being unwanted mental states which one tries to fight within oneself. In a more intensified state, not only the world of thought is threatened but the world of active doing as well. Impulses dictating to carry out certain acts, dangerous to oneself or others, or socially unfit, may demand attention and threaten to dictate conduct. Many crimes and suicides are committed while being in the Cherry Plum state. All problems in regard to impulse control fall under the healing action of this remedy (cf. Impatiens, Holly, Vervain, Vine).
Cherry Plum, should the indications exist, treats phobias of all kind (cf. Mimulus, Rock Rose) and fear of sudden physical/mental failure, as in stammering or in diseases such as epilepsy or repeated fainting. It is indicated whenever there is fear of losing control over one's mental/ emotional faculties or physical happenings; one feels helpless in face of overwhelming dynamics which, though resisted to, seem to have a life of their own. During drug rehabilitation or during attempts to heal addictive imaginings, Cherry Plum treats the fear of losing one's resolve and succumbing to former habitual satisfaction.
Within the Cherry Plum dynamic, one also finds obsessive-compulsive, perfection-oriented, or ritualistic behavior or thought processes engaged in with the intention to avoid succumbing to the dreaded impulse (cf. Crab Apple, Pine).
The remedy is invaluable in treatment of delusional and psychotic states when the boundaries of consciousness are disintegrating and the mind becomes subjected to unconscious and primordial forces.
Great anguish and distress are experienced in the Cherry Plum state, along with the intense fear of losing control. Milder cases may feel more exasperated or nervous in face of unwanted thoughts, rather than experiencing anguish.

While the mind is out of balance, the emotions are too. Oftentimes, there are unfulfilled emotional needs at the bottom of the mental pressures. Some vital part is not heard properly, becomes suppressed, only to reassert through bizarre or inappropriate expression.
In some cases of willful abuse or crime, one can observe a fascination with the Cherry Plum state which is engaged in for the sake of thrill or excitement. To contemplate forbidden things may arouse in some a taste of adventure, and the dangers are played with in one's mind, the tension savored, until the negative balance is won. One will do the forbidden deed and one feels empowered; newly balanced certainty grows out of the temporary Cherry Plum state, but at the wrong end. Moral consciousness, in such instances, is not powerful enough to offer sufficient deterrence in face of these antisocial impulses. Cherry Plum will help these people to be less drawn to forbidden, tension-provoking content and reduce the fascination found in danger and unusual thrill, while moral insights would have to be strengthened concurrently.
Oftentimes, the opposite effect is encountered, as a standard of high morals and a strong sense of propriety impel an upright person into a Cherry Plum state. Thoughts have to be proper, and one feels responsible to guard them constantly.
Ethical principles and love for one's neighbor, however, which are often at the bottom of the true Cherry Plum fear and which enhance the need to balance, self-observe, and protect others, also offer a way to find peace by de-emphasizing preoccupation with internal dynamics and concentrating one's focus on caring for others.

To reduce mental preoccupation and direct the viewpoint to people and content outside of oneself, with emphasis on love and service. To reduce pressure from the unconscious, allowing for peaceful communication between the varying needs of the self, for example by analyzing one's dreams. To give mental peace and relaxation.