I would like to make some observations on the dynamics of today's symposium and I will attempt to tie together some central themes. This morning during our audience discussion, the participants' comments alternated between theoretical issues and personal anecdotes, often followed by a joke about death. There was relatively little discussion of clinical cases. The afternoon's discussion focused more on clinical issues, with the occasional joke, about death, castration, or immortality, followed by a return to clinical issues, with little focus on personal issues. It seemed as though the participants had to process their own personal reactions about death first, before they could delve into their work with patients. In both the morning and afternoon, the audience seemed to be able to tolerate only a certain amount of discussion about death, without turning to humour, which then enabled the audience to return to theoretical or clinical issues.