ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: We review the concept of mourning, first as conceived by Freud and Klein, and how it relates with the contemporary "clinic of the void" as described by André Green. The clinic of the void is part of a series of modern manifestation of psychic malaise called "new symptoms". To illustrate, we present the case of Roxana, a Mexican woman whose psyche reflected the dynamic of the dead mother complex. Through an analysis of her interpersonal relationships and past experiences, and comparing with psychoanalytic literature, we conclude that the dead mother complex might become a common condition in our society.
Resumo: Revisamos o conceito de luto, primeiro como concebido por Freud e Klein, e como este se relaciona com a "clínica do vazio" contemporânea, como descrita por André Green. A clínica do vazio é parte de uma série de manifestações modernas do mal-estar psíquico chamado "novos sintomas". Para ilustrar, apresentamos o caso de Roxana, uma mulher mexicana cuja psique refletiu a dinâmica do complexo da mãe morta. Através de uma análise de suas relações interpessoais e experiências passadas, e comparando com a literatura psicanalítica, concluímos que o complexo da mãe morta pode se tornar uma condição comum em nossa sociedade.
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Psychoanalysis , Bereavement , ParentingABSTRACT
El presente artículo profundiza en los efectos que tiene la depresión materna en el desarrollo emocional temprano. Un primer enfoque estadístico reúne los datos que la investigación exploratoria sobre depresión de la OMS proporciona. A continuación, se detallan las investigaciones que las disciplinas humanísticas y el psicoanálisis han realizado hasta el momento sobre el tema para describir y explicar el síndrome. El nudo teórico es la articulación entre los conceptos de "duelo blanco" y "complejo de la madre muerta" teorizados por André Green con el de "vacío" de Donald Winnicott y el de "posición depresiva" de Melanie Klein. El valor pragmático del recorrido teórico reside en la posibilidad de resignificar los diagnósticos en la infancia con la herramienta diagnóstica que la CFTMEA - R - 2000 y la categoría de lo "límite" en psicoanálisis ofrecen. También las adecuaciones técnicas imprescindibles para una dirección de la cura tendiente a contrarrestar los efectos de lo negativo en el desarrollo emocional infantil surgidas de la experiencia clínica con estos niños
In this article, the impacts of postnatal depression on emotional development in childhood are studied in depth. A first statistic approach gathers the data provided by the exploratory research on depression according to the WHO. Next, research on humanistic disciplines and psychoanalysis carried out up to the present is described in detail on this topic in order to define and explain the syndrome. The theoretical knot serves as the articulation between the concepts of "white grief" and "dead mother complex", both of them theorized by André Green based on Donald Winnicott's notion of "vacuum" and Melanie Klein's notion of "depressing position." The theoretical path's pragmatic value lies in the likelihood of resignifying diagnoses during childhood making use of the classifying tool offered by psychoanalysis: CFTMEA-R-2000 and the "borderline" category. Likewise, the essential technical adaptations towards a cure that might counteract the negative effect on child emotional development that emerge as a result of the clinical exploration on children are addressed
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Infant, Newborn , Depression, Postpartum , Borderline Personality Disorder , Infant, Newborn/growth & development , BereavementABSTRACT
This paper intends to explore the organizing function and fate of sado-masochistic phantasies in their fixed form, in the psychic life of patients who have suffered early traumas, due to environmental vicissitudes and maternal psychopathology. The theoretical starting point is provided by the Novicks' research into transitory and permanent beating phantasies in adult and child patients, their onset and their psychic function, based on an examination of Freud's paper 'A child is being beaten'. In this text Freud achieves an unprecedented syncretism, locating the phantasy at the intersection between the oedipal complex, which is a vertical structure organizing sexual and generational differences, and the fraternal dimension, which is horizontal and organizes the lateral relationship with that similar but different other who is the sibling. Reporting in some detail material from the analyses of two young women, whose clinical presentation and early traumas show some similarities, the author puts in the context of the analytic work the emerging of the sado-masochistic phantasies, emphasizing their use and function in the transference-countertransference interplay. The beating phantasies shore up a precarious sense of self, threatened with psychic depletion and death, in identification with the absent mother of early infancy. An overly close relationship with a sibling, experienced as a narcissistic double, compounds the clinical picture, to establish the triangle formed by the parent(s) and two children which features in the beating phantasy. Finally, the author explores the contribution of ameliorating factors, such as alternative identificatory figures, constitutional endowment and capacity for sublimation, to account for the different fate of the fixed beating phantasies.
