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The following true story illustrates a number of points with which we are probably all familiar, and may get more familiar as time goes on.
I was asked to see a young man of twenty-one who was said to be very intelligent; not much the matter with him and probably a suitable case for psychoanalysis. A psychiatrist friend who knew him also spoke highly of him; although he seemed recently not to be fulfilling his early promise, he was most amusing, entertaining and, once again, just the person to profit by psychoanalysis.
The mother of the patient was opposed to psychoanalysis which she felt was unnecessary. She said that her son had always done well, there was nothing much the matter with him and she disapproved of this process of psychoanalysis. But she did not maintain her objections.
The father did not hold with psychoanalysis at all. He felt it was one of these fads which, like most fads, young people wasted time and money on instead of getting on with their work; he thought the boy would be better employed getting on with his university career.
Most people who knew him, or knew of him, also agreed that he was very amusing and on one or two occasions, notably on his twenty-first birthday, he had made witty and amusing speeches. I agreed to see the patient who was then just over twenty-one.
He was, indeed, co-operative; he missed no sessions and spoke freely. He said he did not get on well with his sister who was, in his opinion, a terrible liar.
I had occasion, before he came for analysis, also to see the sister who spoke freely, easily and intelligently, and told me a long story about herself and her educational achievements; she was two years younger than the patient.