Das crises do desenvolvimento à patologia da psicose na primeira infância: revisitando a teoria de Margaret Mahler

Abstract

Among the main authors who investigated the early mental development from a psychoanalytic viewpoint, and elaborated hypotheses trying to clarify which factors are related to the emergence of mental illnesses, the Hungarian pediatrician and psychiatrist Margaret Mahler (1897-1985) should be mentioned. Her main contribution to child psychoanalysis was her innovative technique for the treatmente of young children and her extensive theory of early mental development, known as the symbiosis and separation-individuation theory. Mahler described pathologies resulting from unsatisfactory experiences in the early stages of development, such as autistic and symbiotic psychosis. She also described moments of disturbance that are natural and intrinsic to early emotional development and may incorrectly be perceived as mental pathologies. Despite her great contribution to the understanding of child mental development, little attention has been given to her theoretical and clinical thinking. This dissertation presents a theoretical-conceptual research, aiming to analyze the concepts of “normal development”, “crisis intrinsic to development” and “psychosis” in Margaret Mahler's theory. Content from the three books published by the author and contributors were used as theoretical support: The Psychological Birth of the Human Infant (1975), Infantile Psychosis and Early Contributions (1979), On Human Symbiosis and the Vicissitudes of Individuation (1968), as well as her published articles and lectures.