You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
ANACLITIC DEPRESSION IS A SYNDROME WHICH HAS BEEN DEscribed as an "emotional deficiency disease" of infancy (Spitz, 1965). In his original formulation, Spitz (1946) noted that prolonged separation from the mothering figure in the second half of the first year of life could result in a syndrome of weeping, withdrawal, apathy, weight loss, sleep disturbance, and a decrease in developmental quotient. If an adequate and consistent nurturing figure was not supplied, the downward course could be expected to continue and could even merge into "hospitalism" (Spitz, 1945); if adequate mothering was supplied, the child could be expected to recover. Spitz linked the syndrome to the developmental milestone of the mother's becoming a consistent and recognized object for the infant.
Since Spitz's original report, several extensive reviews of the disorder and related theoretical issues have appeared (Bowlby, 1952),