Withdrawal in early infancy
implications for psychic development
Keywords:
withdrawal, diagnosis, mother-infant relationship, early developmentAbstract
The baby’s psyche is prestructured by core knowledge that provides the foundation for the representation of the other and the environment, and it is structured through the interaction of the babies with their caregivers. The psyche is conceived of from a constructivist position that considers no neurotic, psychotic or autistic prestructures but the structures appear
as adaptations to the flow of interaction between the baby and the parents, and according to the difficulties of process of synchronization in the early parent-child interactions. The importance of the early detection of withdrawal behavior resides
in the fact that it affects the heart of the baby’s capacity for curiosity and the search for social contact. Withdrawal is considered as a defense mechanism against the lack of synchrony and at the repeated and constant transgressions in the interaction between the baby and his caregivers. However, withdrawal induces in the baby a position of expectation that affects the
development of the capacity of intersubjectivity. Longitudinal studies show the effect of sustained withdrawal on language
development, emotional regulation and behavior as a result of having spent too long in a position of withdrawal during early infancy.
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