Behavior: The Motorcycle Syndrome

"Driving it is a very physical, almost sexual feeling. You accelerate fast and there is nothing between you and nature. The wind blowing in your face is a marvelous sensation. It has tremendous appeal. My new machine has a huge motor. With this under me, I feel I can do anything I want to."

With these words, a 23-year-old Harvard graduate student told his psychiatrist why he had just bought his third motorcycle, despite having suffered serious injuries in two cycle accidents during the previous six months. Luckily, his psychiatrist was Harvard Medical School's Armand M. Nicholi II, who had been studying...

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