The stigmata of a congenital malformation

Abstract

The goal of this piece of work was to show what is unleashed in the patient’s and analyst’s mind when the body of a child with a severe and very noticeable congenital malformation appears in the analytical scene. It is about
Juan Andrés, born after 5 and a half months of pregnancy, with a severe malformation in both ankles, located  in his Achilles’ tendons. This child, sheltered in all-powerful fantasies and defences, was seeking to deny the stigmas of his malformation. Many of his expressions allowed to recall Achilles’ myth: Juan Andrés like Achilles seemed to be full of grandeur and power except at the ankles.  Although one can observe the display of his edipical fantasies, fantasies of  phallic power and the rivalry against the paternal figure, the author wants to show that when working with patients with severe physical malformations, one
should be more careful when it comes to tackling the edipical fantasies. The author thinks that in these patients anxieties about the self and of bodily annihilation are more intense in some stages than those about castration anxiety.