Theoretical Deductions from an Analysis of Dementia Praecox in Early Infancy (1929)1

The case of a four-year-old boy who was demented is the basis of my investigation which showed that the premature and excessive defence of the ego against sadism under certain conditions prevents the development of the ego and the establishment of reality relations.

To begin with, the author takes the reader back to prehistoric times and shows the role which menstruation plays for man and woman, for the closer and the extended family, for the smaller and also for the wider communities. Menstruation has always been looked upon by men as a dangerous event against which they reacted with fear, anxiety and disdain. The belief prevailed that contact with a menstruating woman is dangerous and therefore severe restrictions were imposed in order to separate the ‘impure’ woman from the community for several days. The form in which the woman was excluded varied with the character of the tribes. The exile of the menstruating woman is a short repetition of the exclusion of adolescent girls from the community in connection with the puberty rites which may last from several months to years, and this is found even nowadays among primitive peoples.

Chadwick showed very convincingly that the primitives' fear of the menstruating woman is fear of the revenge of certain demons which ultimately is identical with castration anxiety. In addition she showed how other group phenomena in later periods have similar roots, for instance fear of witches which even led to their being burned. Even today certain religious demands and prohibitions have the same motivation. This anxiety also finds expression in certain superstitions, such as the commonly held idea that flowers touched by a menstruating woman will fade.

After this introduction the author turns to the present generation and to single individuals and again she shows that everyone has to cope with similar anxieties. These are based on the recognition of the difference between the sexes a