Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole: A Renowned Neurologist Explains the Mystery and Drama of Brain Disease

by Allan H. Ropper

primum non nocere—“

“The patients are holding out their troubles. They are not really asking you to take them. You should only take them if you want or need to take them. Otherwise, leave it. They’ll get along without your suffering. You have another job to do.” A lesser therapist might have simply interrupted, and said, “It’s hard to know what’s on a patient’s mind, and you can’t take on their troubles. You have to be able to distance yourself without being unsympathetic.”