Fairbairn’s psychology of dynamic structure: a psycho-social approach to dementia I. Fairbairn’s developmental theory of mind and understanding the process of dementia

Abstract

The author gives a detailed exposition of Fairbairn’s structural model of the self, showing how it develops from the initial stage of infantile dependency, through the transitional stage which is concerned with the abandonment of infantile dependence to the stage of mature dependence where the defences of the transitional stage are given up, and one can relate to others realistically. He gives a detailed description of how Fairbairn’s model can be used to understand the symptoms of dementia as described by other researchers.