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A direct analytic contribution to the understanding of postpartum psychosis

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Summary

The deficiencies in our present knowledge of postpartum psychosis seem to be due to the inadequate consideration which has been given to the fantasy structures which underlie the traumatic impact of childbirth.

Through the direct analysis of a schizophrenic woman with a postpartum psychosis, certain fantasies came to light which shed new light on the problem. Pregnancy had the significance to her of the final gratification of unresolved oral fantasies. The patient felt the increase in girth as caused by the body's filling up with semen, which was equated with milk. The delivery was then viewed as a sudden castastrophic loss of this gratification.

Such unconscious fantasies seem to account for many of the unexplained characteristics of postpartum disorders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 439 S. La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles 48, Calif

    Jack Rosberg M.A. & Bertram P. Karon Ph.D.

  2. Princeton University, Princeton, N. J.

    Jack Rosberg M.A. & Bertram P. Karon Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Jack Rosberg M.A.
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  2. Bertram P. Karon Ph.D.
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Rosberg, J., Karon, B.P. A direct analytic contribution to the understanding of postpartum psychosis. Psych Quar 33, 296–304 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01575456

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01575456

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