Observations on Adaptation and Defense In Statu Nascendi

The Development of Defense Mechanisms

“…On the other hand, if the defense is used primarily to ward off anxiety, strong instinctual demands, and unconscious conflict, then it serves an abnormal function. Mahler and McDevitt (1968) have suggested that the dual functions of defenses may occur more or less simultaneously, and they give several case descriptions of this from their longitudinal study of infants and toddlers. For example, "Peter" was unusually aggressive as an infant and small toddler, but during his third year, the aggression was repressed.…”

“…Several authors have discussed the physiological reactions that may serve as early points on the developmental line of various defenses. Mahler and McDevitt (1968) have shown how physical reactions of "stiffening" when held, as well as turning or looking away, or pushing away from the mother's body serve a defensive function in the infant of warding off symbiotic engulfment. Likewise, in the toddler, precursors of denial stemming from anxiety over loss of the mother may be seen in the motor reactions of "shadowing and darting away from the mother" (p. 14), as well as in avoiding, ignoring, and veering away from the mother.…”

Treating Alcoholism as a Disorder of the Self

“…This theme of seeking solace of a pleasurable experience is central in the lives of alcoholics. Mahler's (1968) separation-individuation theory assumes that in the course of healthy emotional development, the child begins to move beyond a symbiotic relationship with the mother (object) to a position of separation and individuation. Failures in this developmental evolution can diminish the child's capacity to distinguish the internal world from the external world (Masterson & Klein [Eds.…”

“…ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT QUARTERLY Mahler (1968) also uses the term symbiosis to describe the young child's inability to correctly differentiate experiences in the self from the experiences of what the other, the object, may be having. This mental operation is termed "internal symbiosis."…”

“…As described by Mahler and McDevitt (1968), these two points of reference characterize the infant's conceptual world. Masterson assumes that the developmental arrest that comes about from the failure to attend to the needs of the infant lead to the development of a personality structure termed the false self (Winnecott, 1965;Masterson, 1988).…”