In a genetic perspective, Margaret Mahler [1] highlights several stages of child development. It considers that it is the wrong course a stage which leads to a pathological condition, and therefore describes each stage of a clinical child psychosis correspondent.
1 - The stages of development according to Margaret Mahler
Autism a-normal
The first weeks of life correspond to what Margaret Mahler called autism normal phase during which satisfaction of needs is seen as assured by the infant himself, in an illusion of omnipotence autism. At this stage the mother is not perceived at all, care for example reducing hunger is not distinguished from the efforts of the child itself to reduce its internal voltage unpleasant. Margaret Mahler equated this stage an initial phase of primary narcissism described by Freud, the second being the symbiotic stage.
b-symbiotic stage
The symbiotic stage of development is by Margaret Mahler at the period from the second months. Defines the term symbiosis, by analogy with the term organic, the type of mother-child relationship, in terms of the child.
At this stage, the child is in an absolute dependence with respect to the mother. There is a "vague awareness" of the object of satisfaction of needs, but it is considered by the child as an integral part of himself. The "I" is no different even from "non-I", the interior and exterior differ only gradually. The symbiotic unity, as experienced by the child includes both body and psyche the child and the representation of the mother. There is a delusion, hallucinatory fusion of the child to the mother with common borders. Margaret Mahler reports that it is from the third month of life as the object starts to be perceived as hindering the partial object needs.
At this level, Margaret Mahler believes that the ego and the id are undifferentiated and are the primary reservoir of energy, composed of undifferentiated impulses, libidinal (of life) and aggressive (death). Any unpleasant perception is projected beyond this unit.
Psychosis symbiotic child is a step backwards at this point.
After the symbiotic phase, a number of elements will help gradually approach the process of separation-individuation. According to Margaret Mahler
an early present from me is when the child is able to "anticipate with confidence the satisfaction" [2] , through memory traces of satisfaction. From the second semester of the first year, the symbiotic partner is no longer interchangeable, then there is strictly speaking a symbiotic relationship with the mother. Whenever there is distress, internal or external, the child uses the symbiotic partner to calm, which contributes to the implementation of the function of protective shield of the mother. Margaret Mahler, reprising concepts borrowed from Winnicott believes that "the attitude of holding (holding) the partner's mother, her primary maternal preoccupation is the symbiotic organizer. [3]
Note that we can recognize this symbiotic phase in a genetic design of clinical facts related to those spotted in the Kleinian paranoid-schizoid position.
c-Separation-individuation
According to Margaret Mahler, so it is with the holding that the maternal separation-individuation process can be implemented. This takes place in several phases.
From 10th to 16th month, whereas before the infant's attention was mainly directed towards internal sensations, he began to focus its attention on factors outside the dyad, referring constantly to the maternal face.
During this period, the structuring of the ego is favored by the alternation of gratification and frustration. The mother is the symbiotic partner ("auxiliary ego" [4] ), it is the guarantor that the internal distress does not exceed a threshold too high, thus ensuring its role as protective shield. Here is Margaret Mahler as the point of attachment mechanisms "as if" and schizoid personalities.
From 16th to 18th month, the child is at the peak of a sense of omnipotence related both to the mother-child symbiosis is still active, and the new sense of autonomy, particularly related to acquisition of walking. This is the testing period.
The child, its locomotion, may move away Gradually the mother, and at the same time it is the emotional presence of the mother close to allowing that "investment is withdrawing from the symbiotic sphere to attach to appliances autonomous self and the ego functions - locomotion, perception, learning " [5] .
In this period, by the physical distance gradually, gradually the child is confronted with threats of loss of small object, pleasure in the autonomous operation is considered to overcome separation anxiety aroused each address.
the 18th month, I acquired some maturation: cognitively, the child has an awareness of object permanence (Piaget) and therefore has access to an intelligence capable of representation (and not just sensorimotor).
On the libidinal, the early identification of parents to me, so early in the process of internalization (Hartmann) of parental imagos, which will continue for the next 18 months. During this period, the delusional certainty of non-separation from the mother falls gradually, as the omnipotent child to overestimate his own abilities. This period is therefore a loss of phase vulnerability especially for self-esteem of children we can recognize a developmental version of the Kleinian depressive position.
After this phase, the subject has internal objects, cognitive and libidinal, it became gradually aware of the separation of his body, differentiation of the self and the child has acquired some awareness of entity and its identity.
noted that signing the fundamental difference between this description and the description of Kleinian positions, as indeed we shall see, the issue of separation and lack of access to the Other in Lacan, is the developmental perspective that freezes the terms of the relationship partner and the object in a sequence of steps staked. In contrast to Melanie Klein believes that in any subject are present object relations-type paranoid-schizoid and depressive, while Lacan does not distinguish between a unique modality of object relations can lead to lack in the Other, located access to it in the dialectic of demand and desire taken in the language.
2 - Pathology
If at first 50s, Margaret Mahler believes that childhood autism and symbiotic psychosis are two distinct clinical entities, it is up to the late 60s on this design and stresses found in clinical rather than a sharp distinction, a predominance of mechanisms to one or the other pole. She notes that "at age three and a half or four years, the two schemes, autistic and symbiotic, are in most cases" [6] . She also notes the existence of moments of autistic regression in children located in a register rather symbiotic, whether in the natural course or progression of therapy.
a-Infantile autism
The autistic syndrome is considered by Margaret Mahler as a regression or fixation to the normal autistic phase.
In this context, it finds a non-differentiation between self and inanimate objects in the environment. The difficulty of the mother to establish contact with the child and the attachment thereof to inanimate objects reflects this mechanism. The reason is that "the autistic child is unable use the auxiliary ego functions of the executive partner (symbiotic), the mother, in navigating the world outside and inside " [7] .
Margaret Mahler considered when symptoms present (immutability, stereotypies, limited value for an object, intolerance to change) is a way to tolerate the internal and external stimuli without the support of auxiliary ego-feeding. Operate without this support takes the subject to a libidinal disinvestment overall internal and external reality, psychic functioning remaining on a non-differentiation of the ego and the id and the self and the object.
This withdrawal of libido, it is clear that food such as potty training (which are often not in default in autism) are mechanically out of the emotional tie to the mother which is normally successive stages of libidinal development [8] .
b-symbiotic psychosis
called symbiotic psychosis is a form of fixation or regression to the symbiotic stage, with some degree of failure of the process of separation-individuation.
So at the stage of the perception of an object part reliably meet the internal tension that stops development. Margaret Mahler makes several assumptions about the reasons for that determination: extreme reaction to the failures of the test period; traumatic experience begins when the separation individuation (separation brutal symbiotic partner, etc..) Failure to use the partner mothering during the symbiotic phase where poor internalization. In
symbiotic psychosis, the representation of the mother is fused to self, so they are not separated. It contributes to the illusion of omnipotence of the child.
As the real mother is close to the child, this may not be noticeable, but in times of separation, hence the need for independent operation is felt that the disorder is revealed: the child then its obvious distress of panic. He shows the failure of the internalization of the mothering object (thus the protective shield function), replaced by a persistent fusion thereof. There are non-differentiation of self and mother, and the subject requires to survive, the real mother. It is therefore impossible for the self to face the world as distinct individual: the world is hostile and threatening as the subject remains alone.
To maintain this delusion of merger with mother, the child uses to specific behaviors, in particular an attempt to control the omnipotent maternal object. "There can be some attempt to externalize the omnipotent dual unity, which is projected into a frenzy the outside world it will be such to require the mother to act as if it was in reality an extension of own child's body. " [9]
Similarly, This phenomenon can be seen in the relationship that these children may draw the therapist: they appear to be attempting to merge their bodies to the body of another.
The risk of this merger to the other if the other shows a will of its own meaning to the child the failure of his omnipotent control of the object, is that it leads to a "fear of disintegration, the total loss of the entity and identity, that is to say the subject by réengloutissement symbiotic: the subject feels a "terror of dissolution of self (loss of borders) in a dual unity invested aggressively on which the child can not control magic. " [10]
[1] MAHLER, M. (1970). Infantile psychosis. Paris, Payot, 2001, 363 p.
[2] Ibid . p.35.
[3] Ibid . p.34
[4] Ibid . p.40
[5] Ibid . p. 44
[6] Ibid . p. 114
[7] Ibid . p. 103
[8] On Lacanian perspective we can say that there is no making demand on the body in these subjects.
[9] Ibid. p. 118
[10] Ibid . p. 119
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