Although fear of rejection and loss of identity are important causes of the schizophrenic's 'fear of closeness', recent work has led the author to recognize the much greater importance of the patient's fear of his own hostility as dangerous to himself and to those he is attached to and dependent upon. He need not be treated with the extreme caution and unending maternal love formerly recommended. Like all other patients, he needs a consistent and sustained psychodynamic approach leading to curative insight. Schizophrenics share the universal human problems caused by hostile dependency, but their response to it is so intense that they can cope with the resulting massive anxiety only by formation of psychotic symptoms.