Psychiatrists on active duty during the war learned that soldiers who “broke down” in combat should not be kept in recovery areas too long. Those who were returned rapidly to active duty did well. Those hospitalized for long periods tended toward further disintegration of personality and ability to function.
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Family and friends often wish to protect recovering patients from the full range of human experience. They seek to insulate patients from sorrow, excitement, fear and even joy. They fear that “too much” weeping, thrill, fright, laughter, might cause the patient to regress. Usually this is done out of love for the recovering patient. Patients experience this form of love differently. They experience it as being controlled.
