Vitality, A Psychiatrist's Answer to Life's Problems

253 Pages·2008·3.058 MB·English

by  Richard Esser

V
itality

V
itality
A Psychiatrist’s Answer to Life’s Problems
Richard Esser
Algora Publishing
New York
© 2008 by Algora Publishing.
All Rights Reserved
www.algora.com
No portion of this book (beyond what is permitted by
Sections 107 or 108 of the United States Copyright Act of 1976)
may be reproduced by any process, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the
express written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data —
Esser, Richard, 1925-
Vitality : A Psychiatrist’s Answer to Life’s Problems/ Richard Esser.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87586-618-5 (soft cover: alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-87586-619-2 (hard
cover: alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-87586-620-8 (ebook) 1. Mental health. 2. Vitality. I.
Title.
RA790.5.E822 2008
613—dc22
2007052059
Printed in the United States
For
Alexandra and Ingrid

I have spent my work life helping people who were at the end of their rope. My rewards
have been three: first, my gratification on seeing individuals be rid of the distress that
plagued them and seeing them get what they wanted most out of their living; second, the
gratitude they showed me for the help they received; third, the lesson that this work has
taught me about how to confront, understand and deal with difficulties in my own life. It
seems to me that in this work I learned something new about the most difficult problems
we all have in our living and about how to help both oneself and others deal with those
problems. I wanted to share that new knowledge with others. I thought that others might
benefit from what I learned. This book is the result.
I owe a special word of thanks to those who have helped me greatly on my way: Elvin
Semrad of the Boston Psychopathic Hospital and Harvard University; Douglas Bond Sr. of
the Pennsylvania Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania; Lawrence Kubie of the New
York Psychoanalytic Institute and Columbia and Yale Universities; Kenneth Clark of the
Northside Center and the City University of New York; Gunnar Inghe of the Karolinska
Institute and the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare.
One derives sustenance for our living primarily from the love of others. Thus this book
is dedicated to my beautiful daughters Ingrid and Alexandra.