Archive for January, 2012
The Case of Tommy Continued
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012At age 18 months when Tommy had his heart surgery, most children have attained secure object constancy but their notions of cause and effect are still primitive and magical. They cannot distinguish clearly between fantasy and reality. It is the stage of omnipotent wishes and fears. If toddlers want something and […]
The Case of Tommy Continued
Thursday, January 26th, 2012After hearing his story, I immediately suspected that Tommy had been misdiagnosed and that his underlying problem was Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The ages of his hospitalizations were key to his specific PTSD symptoms. At age 8 months when Tommy was first hospitalized, most babies have bonded to their mothers or […]
The Case of Tommy Continued
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012Tommy had been hospitalized seven times in childhood for sudden and serious medical problems: at 8 months for subdural hematoma following a fall on his head, at 18 months for heart surgery, at 8 years for pneumonia and later the same year for meningitis, at 9 years for a ruptured appendix, […]
The Case of Tommy Continued
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012When I first saw him, Tommy did not appear depressed. His primary problems were panic attacks against a background of pervasive anxiety accompanied by shaky self esteem, shyness and irrational guilt, all of which were exacerbated by separation from important people in his life. Tommy came from an intact family and […]
The Case of Tommy Continued
Thursday, January 12th, 2012Three years before, Tommy had made a serious suicide attempt while away from home at college, slashing his wrist following a painful breakup with a girlfriend in the midst of other school problems. He was hospitalized, diagnosed as having a Major Depressive Disorder and treated with antidepressants and counseling, neither of […]
The Case of Tommy
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012Tommy’s story offers a dramatic example of how important developmental cues can be for accurate diagnosis and treatment. Tommy was a 27 year old college student who came in suffering from lingering anxiety two months after a panic attack that occurred while he was on summer break living with his parents […]
Developmental Issues
Thursday, January 5th, 2012In the last century, psychoanalysts and researchers into cognitive development made major contributions to our understanding of the child’s inner life at various developmental stages. I am fortunate to have received training and supervision from child analysts in the clinical application of these developmental principles. A working knowledge of child […]