The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness

by Elyn R. Saks

In fact, it is not necessarily true that everything can be conquered with willpower. There are forces of nature and circumstance that are beyond our control, let alone our understanding, and to insist on victory in the face of this, to accept nothing less, is just asking for a soul-pummeling. The simple truth is, not every fight can be won.

To her, my thoughts and feelings were not right or wrong, good or bad; they just were.

“helping” translates differently from case to case, and must be cautiously scrutinized)

Law is based on a theory of personhood; that is, the concept of someone who can make choices and suffer consequences, and who understands the threat of sanction. The doctrine of informed consent (indeed, most of American political theory) presumes that we are not just subjects to be directed, but rather autonomous beings capable of making independent decisions. And for me, psychoanalysis provides the most interesting route to understanding what that truly means, because psychoanalysis asks fundamental questions: Why do people do what they do? When can people be held responsible for their actions? Is unconscious motivation relevant to responsibility? And what renders a person not capable of making choices?