The Silent Patient

by Alex Michaelides

He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore. —SIGMUND FREUD, Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis

The real motivation was purely selfish. I was on a quest to help myself. I believe the same is true for most people who go into mental health. We are drawn to this profession because we are damaged—we study psychology to heal ourselves.

The development of our personalities doesn’t take place in isolation, but in relationship with others—we are shaped and completed by unseen, unremembered forces; namely, our parents.

Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive, and will come forth later, in uglier ways.

I’d never be a painter if it weren’t for him. If he hadn’t needled and encouraged and bullied me, I’d never have kept going

“Choosing a lover is a lot like choosing a therapist. We need to ask ourselves, is this someone who will be

honest with me, listen to criticism, admit making mistakes, and not promise the impossible?”

one of the hardest things to admit is that we weren’t loved when we needed it most.

terrible feeling, the pain of not being loved.”

love that doesn’t include honesty doesn’t deserve to be called love.”

“A baby cannot hate the mother, without the mother first hating the baby.”

But I don’t think Jean-Felix realizes he’s holding on to a part of my life when I wasn’t happy. And any affection I have for Jean-Felix is for that time. We’re like a married couple who have fallen out of love. Today I realized just how much I dislike him.

after so long inside the house. The outside world felt huge—an empty space around me, the big sky above. I felt very small