Citation

Wingerson N. Arch. Psychiatr. Nurs. 1992; 6(4): 239-244.

Affiliation

Graduate Program in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, Columbia University, New York, NY.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

1417081

Abstract

Studies show that adult survivors of childhood incest comprise a significant percentage of female psychiatric patients. The varied and multidetermined presenting symptomatology of these patients frequently leads to misdiagnosis and treatment interventions that fail to address core issues of the incest experience. One such issue is the child's experience of the psychic loss of a physically present parent that is part of the emotional trauma of incest. The goal of this paper is to discuss psychic loss as a core element of the incest experience, particularly in father-daughter incest, and to describe the conditions of childhood mourning that inhibit successful resolution of this loss. Attention is addressed to the psychoanalytic understanding of mourning as a basis for interventions in the treatment of adult survivors.

Language: en