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Ambivalence: Simultaneous attraction toward and repulsion from an action, object, or person.
In reply to Dr. Fontana, it was his own ambivalence rather than that of the subject which was disturbing. Possibly the word "contradiction" would have more suitably described his discussion of injection therapy for hay fever. This is first stated as one of the ways a patient with hay fever "must (author's italics) be managed" (p 127). A few pages later, however, Dr. Fontana states that the value of hyposensitization has not been confirmed to date by any scientific data, and cites studies such as his own in which he concluded "no justification was found for promising any greater benefits to children treated with allergen than they would manifest if they received placebo injections." Despite this, a few more pages further on he again advises hyposensitization as a useful procedure—this time for house dust sensitivity. If not ambivalent