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George E. Gardner opened the Panel on Childhood Phobias with a few remarks about its history. Previously the Panel had been concerned with Schizophrenia in Childhood. Now it had been decided to focus on the Neuroses beginning with Childhood Phobias.
The main presentation was given by Peter Neubauer. The questions posed in his paper were based on experiences at the Council Child Development Center. Here children are studied and treated in their prelatency years in connection with a therapeutically oriented nursery school. The paper focused on early disturbances in children which might be considered as preneurotic manifestations of phobic development.
The signs of disturbance in the first two years which seem most related to the mechanism of phobic conflicts are: excessive screaming, reactions of displeasure in the feeding situation, sleeping disturbances, frequent reactions to noises, and a history of no disturbance in toilet training. Case material was presented from the literature to point out the similarities in the early histories of phobic children.
These signs are not considered exclusively as evidence of preneurotic manifestations of future phobic symptoms. There may be constitutional disturbances as seen in the "atypical child" whose ego never gains the strength to neutralize or defend against libidinal and aggressive drives and who responds to external stimuli as dangerous. Organic pathology may disturb ego function by changes in perceptual experience.
These signs may also be observed as reactions to external disappointments and frustrations. The instinctual needs of the infant are frustrated by "inappropriateness of the mother's attitude" so that pain is experienced instead of pleasure. These infants may attempt to avoid the painful situation in much the same way as the phobic attempts to