Certain children do not outgrow their wish to be an only child but use all sorts of techniques to perpetuate the fantasy of being one. These include demanding all the parents' attention, becoming the only child of an older sibling, adopting a younger

sibling in the same way and identifying with it, family romances, etc. Patients who make intensive use of such methods are strongly orally fixated. Their inability to outgrow a parasitic relationship with the mother suggests that their illness has taken root before or during the weaning period. Their omnipotent and magical thinking gives them unrealistic goals. They experience a helpless rage against their environment, which through guilt they turn against themselves, suffering severely emotionally and somatically.