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The basic problem of adolescence is the re-resolution of the Oedipus conflict. The adolescent is forced to relive what took place in the first four or five years of life. The anxiety produced is coupled with incest masturbatory fantasies which increase his feelings of guilt. As a means of defense the adolescent may be shy and retiring, 'almost a stranger in his own house'; or he may become frankly hostile, showing contempt for and laughing at his parents. The adolescent may choose to compete in sports as a symbolic fight against the parent of the same sex. At other times troubles between mother and son or father and daughter may cause pathological and defiant behavior toward the other parent. For the girl, things are complicated by menstruation, which should be accepted normally as a fulfilment of her femininity, but more often is experienced as punishment for masturbation and/or the incestuous fantasies attached to it. To fulfil his role, the adolescent must adapt himself to the adult world by surpassing infancy and facing again the basic infantile conflict, the Oedipus complex. This will be aggravated if either parent is still harboring his own unresolved Oedipus complex.