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JAA 39(3):409-419 (2011)

Frontllne—Secure Attachment and Traumatic Life Events

Author: Clarice J. Kestenbaum MD

Abstract

I first became interested in the effects of a traumatic life event during my residency at Columbia in New York City. I was on the pediatric consultation liaison service and was asked to consult on an eight-year-old girl referred by the ophthalmology inpatient unit. “Hysterical Blindness” was noted on the chart when no medical reason could account for the sudden loss of vision. Maria* was a beautiful child who did not seem distressed in any way during my interview (“Belle Indifference” I observed).

“Can you tell me what happened three days ago, Maria?” “I don't know. I was sitting on the steps of my building with my friend, the way we always do after school. Then I couldn't see anymore.”
I questioned Maria about home, school, and friends and found nothing unusual in her story. Both parents and an Italian-born grandmother lived with her and her two brothers. She was doing well in her third grade parochial school and had many friends. I asked if she remembered any dreams. “I remember my dream last night. I was running over a bridge. A man was chasing me with a knife. It was scary. Then I woke up.” I asked her to draw a picture of the dream. Despite her “blindness,” she took my pencil and sketched the scene. A stick-figure man was chasing a girl and dropped a large phallic-like knife into the water. Maria could not think of any event that might have precipitated the dream.
I was puzzled. My next move was to contact Maria's mother.
Mrs. T was a middle-aged Italian-American woman, very upset about Maria's condition. She was no stranger to psychiatry, having experienced a postpartum depression and several subsequent bouts of depression.
* Names and personal information have been changed to protect privacy.
This article was presented at the Twelfth AAPDP/OPIFER Joint Meeting, October 16-17, 2010, Genoa, Italy.
Page 409
She could think of no unusual occurrence that week.
The next evening, however, Mrs. T asked to meet with me as soon as possible. She reported that her neighbor, the mother o

JAA 39(3):409-419 (2011)

Frontllne—Secure Attachment and Traumatic Life Events

Author: Clarice J. Kestenbaum MD

Abstract

“Can you tell me what happened three days ago, Maria?” “I don't know. I was sitting on the steps of my building with my friend, the way we always do after school. Then I couldn't see anymore.”
I questioned Maria about home, school, and friends and found nothing unusual in her story. Both parents and an Italian-born grandmother lived with her and her two brothers. She was doing well in her third grade parochial school and had many friends. I asked if she remembered any dreams. “I remember my dream last night. I was running over a bridge. A man was chasing me with a knife. It was scary. Then I woke up.” I asked her to draw a picture of the dream. Despite her “blindness,” she took my pencil and sketched the scene. A stick-figure man was chasing a girl and dropped a large phallic-like knife into the water. Maria could not think of any event that might have precipitated the dream.
I was puzzled. My next move was to contact Maria's mother.
Mrs. T was a middle-aged Italian-American woman, very upset about Maria's condition. She was no stranger to psychiatry, having experienced a postpartum depression and several subsequent bouts of depression.
* Names and personal information have been changed to protect privacy.
This article was presented at the Twelfth AAPDP/OPIFER Joint Meeting, October 16-17, 2010, Genoa, Italy.
Page 409
She could think of no unusual occurrence that week.
The next evening, however, Mrs. T asked to meet with me as soon as possible. She reported that her neighbor, the mother o