Withdrawal in early infancy

implications for psychic development

Authors

  • Antoine Guedeney
  • Carla Pérez Martínez

Keywords:

withdrawal, diagnosis, mother-infant relationship, early development

Abstract

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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Author Biographies

  • Antoine Guedeney

    Hospital Bichat-Claude Bernard APHP. Universidad Denis Diderot Paris 7, Policlínico Ney, Blvd. Ney 124,
    75018, París, Francia. 

  • Carla Pérez Martínez

    Estudiante de Doctorado en Psicología y Psicopatología Perinatal e Infantil. Universidad de Valencia,
    Valencia, España. 

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Published

2015-06-01

How to Cite

Withdrawal in early infancy: implications for psychic development. (2015). Revista Uruguaya De Psicoanálisis, 120, 120-132. http://publicaciones.apuruguay.org/index.php/rup/article/view/269

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