Patience

Patience is a multifaceted phenomenon consisting of acceptance of inner and outer reality, absence of resentment, retention of hope, and capacity to wait for better times without restlessness and haste. It originates in the childhood advance from pleasure principle to reality principle, though the attainment of secure attachment, object constancy, and frustration tolerance also contribute to it. Psychopathology involving patience generally manifests as endless waiting or chronic hurrying. Both the normative and morbid trajectories of patience have implications for psychoanalytic technique, which are illustrated here with the help of clinical vignettes.