Who stole me from me?

With more than 2 million copies sold, Father Fábio de Melo's great success on the violence of emotional captivity returns in a new, revised and updated edition.

Affective life has its rule: we can only give of ourselves what we have already achieved and disposed of.

Who Stole Me From Me? addresses the complexity of relationships that can evolve into what the author calls "subjectivity hijacking," a very common form of violence among us, when the emotional bond becomes a false prison, weakening the foundations of the personal identity of those involved. The person begins to live according to the expectations of others and forgets to listen to the call of their own essence.

Fábio de Melo reflects on emotional captivity and its disastrous consequences for those who experience it—damaging relationships not only in the romantic sphere, but also in the family, professional, and even religious spheres. This book is a key to opening imprisoned and imprisoning minds, clearing consciences, opening emotional captivity, and granting freedom to both the captive and the captors.

Our daily urgencies rush us ever more. Our encounters follow the same rules. Personal unpreparedness, the result of our inability to take time for ourselves, pushes us into the arms of others who have experienced the same neglect. This is how kidnappings begin. A lack of self-knowledge, wanting to know others. Such behavior generates a huge incidence of misunderstandings. People fall in love with what they invent. They see in others what they seek in themselves. This is what we see most. Emotional mistakes we call dating, friendship, marriage. They are not accidental. They are natural consequences of a fashionable way of being and living, which is why they are so frequent. We dedicate less and less time to the craft of building affection, to the knowledge that brings us closer and fosters bonds that enrich us, because they require effort, dedication, and time. And we are in too much of a hurry for that.