Menninger deftly led the reader from “free will” to “symptom”.  A “symptom” is may be a sign of “illness” or a sign of “coping with illness”.

What is the nature of the “dis-ease”?  Menninger presents two drives that make life hard (92).

The first drive inspires us to make bad choices.  Many of our choices start as pluses in the short run and end up as minuses in the long run.  In many ways, these choices have the feel of self-punishment.  As in, “I knew that I should not do it, but …”.

The second drive inspires us to avoid bad consequences; that is, to choose the lesser of two evils.  In many ways, these avoidances have the feel of self-preservation, even though they inevitably increase risk.  As in, “If I tried to solve the problem, I would have to pay the price.  So I just kicked the can down the road.”

Perhaps, the two drives could be called, “seek pleasure; avoid pain”.