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April 19, 1976. CHILDHOOD SEDUCTION, PARENTAL PATHOLOGY AND HYSTERICAL SYMPTOMATOLOGY—THE GENESIS OF AN ALTERED STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS. Austin Silber, M.D.
Dr. Silber described a patient who was taken to bed with his mother for naps between the ages of three and four, during which his body and face were rubbed against the maternal body and genital orifice, the patient being used as a masturbatory object. In addition, the entire pattern of maternal influence was out of phase with the reality of the different stages of his development, with the mother being unreasonably demanding of performance, harsh, rejecting, and destructive. The pathogenic effects of these traumata included extensive use of the mechanism of denial, with a far-reaching turning away from reality, and a reliance on a special type of fantasy combined with a hypnoid state. Resembling a hysterical symptom, this complex was originally of aid in discharging the excitement of the overstimulated state and later became the nucleus of gratifying masturbatory fantasies. These fantasies were repeated during the analysis to deny the reality of the content uncovered as the symptom was explored and to provide a pleasurable refuge from and substitute for active participation in the object world. When the analyst was seen as a replica