This discussion provides a commentary on Gila Ashtor’s important paper, which addresses the difficulty treating and understanding patients with a normotic or “as if” personality who it turns out are considerably dissociated. The patient Ashtor describes does not appear to be severely dissociated yet seems unable – or unwilling – to follow thoughts through to other thoughts or feelings. This discussion questions whether this is always as defensive as Ashtor thinks – thus, whether there is a more depressed/deprived response to an object conceived not as bad or frightening, but inadequate and relatively uninteresting. The consequence may be a limp response to a weakly engaging object.