ABSTRACT
Years ago, the author was consulted by a young man who exhibited none of the usual symptoms presented by the majority of nervous patients. Moreover, he was exceptionally well endowed physically, mentally and scholastically. At first it was impossible to classify him under one of the standard labels such as that of Anxiety State, Hysteria, Obsessions, Phobias, Hypochondria, Impotence, Depression, or even as a Characterological disorder. But as investigation proceeded it became increasingly clear that this case, perhaps by virtue of his freedom from overt symptoms, shed an unusually penetrating light upon the psychopathology of all nervous and mental illnesses; and, what was even more absorbingly interesting, upon the fundamental structure of normality itself. The symptoms which this patient presented at his first interview were so vague and puzzling that the inexperienced observer might be excused from wondering whether he had indeed any symptoms at all, whether there was any need for him to consult a psychologist.
