Nine Lives

I have worked as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst for nearly fifty years, and I have consulted on and treated hundreds of patients.I have never met an alien—someone who was beyond the boundaries of human understanding. Every person is unique, every case offers mysteries and surprises, but the common thread 

reflecting the human condition has always been visible. Some presentations at first appear extreme or even bizarre, but the underlying conflicts and the haunting demons my patients bring, I know “in my bones,” because they reflect shared human conundrums. Unfortunately, for some, these challenges lead to emotional dysfunction, great pain, and suffering.

The well-known American psychiatrist, Harry Stack Sullivan, worked with very ill psychotic patients for many years and emerged from the experience observing, “Man is more human than otherwise.” Stated less elegantly and paraphrasing the comic Pogo, “We have met them (our patients) and they are us.”[N.B. Pogo quote is “We have met the enemy and he is us.” from the Gospel According to Pogo.] If we look deeply into another person’s eyes we see ourselves. Sometimes that which we see leads to a sense of kinship. At other times, the reflection can be frightening, promote interpersonal detachment and self-alienation. Introspection, immersion, sensitivity, and a bit of courage will help the reader recognize himself in the clinical material to be presented. Such recognition may be enlightening.

To shed light on the human condition and to underscore how we all share this condition of being human, I will tell you the stories of nine patients (carefully disguised for confidentiality) whom I have treated in intensive insight-oriented psychotherapy. Their stories are dramatic and valuable. Of course, I can only relate fragments of their narratives, but I will tell you about the most vivid moments and hours I spent with these people, and the times that were most alive and real for me. Though their past histories and surrounding life events helped me understand the

moments we shared, such background was once removed from my immediate experience. It was my contact with these people that was intense, rewarding, and unforgettable.

Reflecting the human condition, these individuals struggled in life—largely with painful inner conflicts and battles with childhood fantasies and traumata. However, the resolutions they came to did not work for them. They were left with emotional pain and patterns that were self-defeating and compromised their potential for living a fuller life. Understanding their dysfunction tells us much about being human and about ourselves. Comparable to a finely synchronized and oiled machine, when the apparatus is not functioning well, we are more aware of how it works. Cases of pneumonia force us to learn more about infectious processes and the mechanics of breathing. Listening carefully to a child’s nightmares can tell us much about his unspeakable worries.