Even if they are likely to develop relationships based on a form of complicity, it is important not to confuse dependence as a component of psychological life with functional dependence relating to life situations where the subject loses autonomy due to limitations in physical or cognitive abilities. Based on research conducted with ageing people who complain of memory problems and fear losing their autonomy (even though neuropsychological assessments show no cognitive impairment), the author presents the results of projective tests on several psychological issues revolving around the matter of dependence. This research emphasises the difficulty in differentiating between what is specific to the ego and what revolves around the object, in being able to consent to the encounter without being encroached upon or dissipated in the other, or feeling mutilated or abandoned. Support and control that may become invasive and masochism sometimes permeate the representations of relationships, revealing major fragilities in differentiation. Hatred may then emerge as a choice solution for the subject to set a distance, albeit in a movement that may rebound and undermine them as concerns arise as to the consequences of such attacks, thus further reinforcing the urge to cling to the other.