you don’t understand.

Patient History
Male, early forties, actor. Unemployed as of treatment period.
Married. Two daughters.
During prior successful career over two decades, Patient memorised wide range of roles. From classics to contemporary. Plenty of monologues.
About a decade ago Patient noticed strong preference to quote from roles rather than use his own words in social situations.
Especially when asked for his opinion.
Often quoting from non-speaking roles—not to be confused with remaining silent.

Chief Complaint
Patient has, by now, lost “his own words.”
(To convey that, Patient actually hummed chorus from pop song “Words don’t come easy.” Then apologised for kitschy reference.)
Eg. when recently asked by wife if he was talking to his agent to get new roles, Patient considered saying YES or NO, but instead rattled off long quote from Ibsen play. Wife took it as mocking. Patient regrets choice of ill-fitting quote.
BUT: Patient has stated (repeatedly) that Loss Of Words is NOT primary reason why he’s seeking therapy.
Patient’s worry: he’s LOSING own JUDGEMENT and OPINION.
Fears his PERSONALITY is rapidly disappearing.
(Here, too, Patient resorted to quotes—from Zeller’s “The Father.” He quoted lines in the original French then in English, causing session overrun, which I billed at 1.5 times the base rate.)
Patient admits he no longer cares for what he WANTS to say, long as he can find remotely fitting QUOTE from memory.
Says he feels SECURE stating already published words—the more established the better. Hence the classics.

Diagnostic impressions
Patient clearly struggles for words. He used to greet me with a neutral “Hello.” Recently he has switched to hollering “Hail Caesar!” upon entry. My name is not Caesar.
I suggested he try Lexapro, 5mg, once daily. He replied by quoting the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, citing cruel and unusual punishment.