Weak-mindedness and worms

"And so, gentlemen, if — for instance — a child is becoming weak in his head — inattentive, hyperactive — he will usually have a corresponding symptom:

 worms in his intestines. Worms develop easily in the intestines if the head forces are too weak, because the head does not then work down strongly enough into the rest of the body. ... And if one's child has worms, one should realize the child has become weak in his head. Also — whoever wants to be a teacher has to know these things — if there are persons who at a later age are weak-minded, one can be sure they have had worms when they were young.

 And so what must one do if one observes this in the child? The simplest remedy is to give him carrots to eat for a while — with his other food, of course; ... They have the forces of the earth in them, and when they are taken into the stomach, they are able to work up through the blood into the head." Steiner, R. (1924; GA0354). Lecture I (link), in the series of lectures: Nutrition and Health.

   What real science shows: Parasitic Roundworm Diseases

Metabolic problems cause Hysteria

"As the physical body does not at once bear the brunt of these irregularities, the first symptoms appear on the functional side, in the etheric body (Archaeus). If we wish to find a current term to designate certain aspects of this irregular function, we must call it Hysteria. We shall use the term Hysteria for the too great autonomy of the processes of Metabolism; and we shall learn later on that the name is not inappropriate.

 Specific manifestations of hysteria in its narrower sense are nothing but this irregular metabolism raised to its culmination. 

In essence, the hysterical process, even in it's sexual symptoms, consists of metabolic irregularities, which are external processes having no rightful place in the human body. That is, they are processes which the upper sphere has been too weak to master and control." Steiner, R. (1920; GA0312). Lecture II (link), in the series of lectures: Spiritual Science and Medicine.