PSYCHOSES

Abstract

by overprotection as a reaction to feelings of guilt, or by an inconsistency in handling. Feeling more insecure than the average child, such children are impelled by the necessity of extracting from their parents and other adults expressions of being welcome or important. Thus they are peculiarly sensitive to attention. They derive a certain satisfaction from having their mothers upset about them, and much of their specific behaviour represents a discovery on their part of what their mothers fear the most. The conclusion is that maternal rejection is an important factor underlying the insecurity which often accompanies the clinical picture of emotional instability. C. S. R.