ABSTRACT
Men fall madly in love with women who appear stupid, superficial, without any depth, greedy and driven by an immediate interest, even though they know that they are on to a loser. Conversely, men who have criminal or otherwise transgressive sides to them seem to pounce on gentle doves. The literary examples are numerous: from Mildred in Maugham's Of Human Bondage to Nina in Vargas Llosa's The Bad Girl, not to mention the vast number of other characters in film and literature throughout the ages. The greatest common denominator shared by these stories seem to be the rediscovery of the 'child' aspects of self, which have remained as an important piece of a jigsaw puzzle. This chapter presents some cases of mental suffering such as, Laura and the dwarf, Gianni and dyslexia, and Nando and the monsters. Finally, the chapter presents a case of Fabiana, that illustrates the link between feared incontinence/hyper-continence and consequent mutism.
