When he was 12, his mother commited suicide, for which Reich blames himself. After that he was sent to an all-male gymnasium in Czernowitz. He has a skin didease kalled psoriasis. He joined the army for a little bit, and then went to Vienna, where he switched from studying law to medicine. He doesn't take care of himself, barely eats or sleeps. He's in love with another medical student, Lia Laszky, with whom he dissected a corpse. He's a sad, lonely, depressed, sexual guy.