The author notes that present-day society's antihumanistic influences, including the realities of the atomic age, have led patients toward a general tendency to suppress affects. He cites some shortcomings in the discharge theory of affects, including difficulty in dealing with unconscious affects, variations of consciousness under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs, confusion about and abuse of the discharge theory due to the proliferation of current therapies, and the inadequacy of the theory in explaining traumatic neuroses. As a result of his studies of drug dependent individuals, Krystal prefers a developmental view of affects. His emphasis is on the importance of the progressive role of verbalization of affects, creating less need to somatize them as the individual grows up. Affect tolerance is carried out under the protection of the mother. The occurrence of massive psychic trauma in childhood hinders the development of affects and makes the expectation of the return of the traumatic state a constant danger. The ability to grieve, which becomes more apparent