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Kreuzlingen, 20 March 1909
8B
Dear Professor Freud,
I must tell you that I am not altogether pleased with Herr v. T.'s condition. He tortures himself again and again with the same things, attempting unsuccessfully to put them behind him. and his conversation is unbelievably laborious and monotonous. Last week his main theme was the moral training of children, which he feels ought to take the place of religious instruction. He held forth endlessly on the subject, repeating himself and agonising over the lack of progress in this field, the fact that people are no longer interested in it, etc.; he finds it all quite incredible, completely incomprehensible. For the past week he has talked for half an hour every day about how strange it is that when he was a child he used to take very good dictation but could not write good compositions. He blames himself for not having told you this out of a false sense of shame. On several occasions the patient has made valiant attempts to initiate me further into his case history, which I have found particularly interesting, but he invariably returns to the above-mentioned topics. In addition, he tells me almost daily that he must make his will so that he can then commit suicide in peace; for that reason alone he would not be taking his life here. He is convinced that he is never going to get well.
The patient's overt behaviour rather belies his condition, inasmuch as he manages to keep himself busy, plays the piano for quite a long time every day, reads Goethe with pleasure and occasionally seeks out the company of other inmates. Since he is rather inaccessible mentally, I have tried to arouse his interest in gardening and gymnastics and have also tried to persuade him to take his meals at the communal table,1 where he can sit beside me. I hope I am acting in accordance with your wishes. I do not think it will be long before I shall have talked the patient round, and under the present circumstances distraction seems to be the right thing