The love of the psychopathic patient is at bottom self-love; it is like the love of the wolf for the lamb. Lover, husband, child, friend, father, mother, brother, sister, are all victims to the patient’s greedy self.
The fear instinct has a positive and negative aspect. There is the fear of life, fear of putting forth energy in meeting the exigencies of life. The patient is afraid to participate in the struggle of life. Struggle spells to him danger, peril,—fear of the external world. Struggle means to him fear, suffering, and misery. The patient avoids society, avoids not only strangers, but even his acquaintances, friends, and sometimes his own family.
While he constantly craves for ever new stimulations to his depleted nerves, he is at the same time in terror of everything that is new. The patient is afraid of life, he shirks duties, responsibilities, efforts, and joys of life struggle. Hence his love of automatism, routine, and fear-fatigue.
The fear manifests itself more often in the form of the negative side of life, such as fear of sickness, weakness, incapacity, degradation, loss of vitality, and generally the fear of death. Neurotic states are due to fear of life and fear of death.
[CHAPTER XVII]
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
The following principles may be regarded as fundamental in the development of psychopathic or nervous ills:
I. The Principle of Embryonic Psychogenesis
The mental states of psychopathic or nervous ills are of an infantile, child type. In this respect the mental states simulate cancerous and other malignant growths of an embryonic character. The psychopathic mental states are not only of a childish character, but they are often associated with child experiences of early life. The psychopathic condition points to some early fear-producing experience, or fear awakening shock.