ABSTRACT
Pain, fear, scared to death, surrender. Had to fight temptation to let go and give in to the pain and weakness. As the clinical picture unfolded, the key to the patient's intrapsychic dynamics emerged more clearly as follows: The prolonged period of illness, with much pain and a fear of death that could not be relieved by his doctors or parents, powerfully reinforced his feeling of abandonment. His fear of engulfment and death contested with his fear of abandonment in any real relationship. He also felt that although he was successful, he might have made better use of his creativity. In his relationship with women, the detachment of affect defended him against the fear of death associated with commitment and permitted him to act out the guru role. The fear of death returned in nightmares of being buried alive or cremated alive, from which he would awake in a cold sweat.
