A Psychiatrist Learns From His Patients

These are things that I have learned from my-A little obsessiveness is not a bad thing.
patients in treatment over the years. They are-Mind the holes in anyone with a swiss cheese
some of the most important lessons that one canego.
receive in life.-If you sleep well at night, you can probably deal
-The opposite of love is indifference.with most of your problems pretty well.
-The best revenge is living well.-Pick your fights.
-The best way to raise a good child is for the-Depression is anger turned toward the self.
parents to love each other.-Never be jealous of your children.
-The difference between theory and practice is-The key to a good marriage is compromise.
greater in practice than it is in theory.-Most any psychiatric diagnosis given to a child is
-The essence of psychotherapy is to learn toonly a guess.
understand, then forgive and forget.-Grudges only hurt the grudge-holder.
-Everyone is entitled to make mistakes.-The psychotherapist may not cure disease, but
-If you get the first 25 years of your life right,helps patients to learn how to love.
the next 75 years take care of themselves-There are two spheres of life - the home sphere
-The only self-help book you need is yourself.and the work sphere. We need calm in one of
-Medication helps about ten percent, therapythem.
about ninety percent.-In general, people are searching for peace and
-Be an ant, not a grasshopper.quiet.
-Life is what happens after 5:00 p.m.-Almost everything truly is small stuff.
-Most people's idea of the ideal family comes-The ego is soluble in alcohol.
from television.-Television is not necessarily bad for children.
-Even the Simpsons are happy.-To understand the concept of ambivalence, think
-To be happy in a relationship requires you to firstof sitting in your car at a red light. You cannot
be happy with yourself.decide to turn left or right. The light changes to
-G-d provides opportunities.green and the cars behind you start to honk. You
-You can never have too much education.still are just sitting there.
-You can have too much therapy.-Ruminating about the past is like watching the
-Sometimes, it takes years of therapy to reachsame movie over and over again and hoping that
an answer so obvious that it was always there.the ending changes.
-In therapy, the patient has all of the answers.-Look for answers where you'll find them, not
The physician only helps him find them.simply where the light is better.
-The most important part of anyone's life is the-Intimacy starts with holding hands and saying I
first six years. Treat them like gold.love you.