Borderline Personality Disorder may arise from inadequate care or emotional or physical detachment during the critical developing's period of around 18 months to 3 years of age. This describes childhood trauma and BPD.
Understanding the reasons for this phenomenon requires some understanding of studies into the impact of early nurture, or its absence, on the major developmental issues faced by infants and young children.
Hospitalism Syndrome — Rene Spitz on the Absence of Physical Contact and Emotional Resonance
Initial investigations by Rene Spitz (1887–1974) on infants in orphanages revealed an unexpectedly elevated mortality rate, despite adequate physical care, including nourishment, diaper changes, and provision of cribs for sleep. The survivors had developmental impairments and a range of psychiatric issues, including depression (1945). This is hospitalism syndrome and BPD.
Spitz determined that emotional comfort and gentle touch are as essential as proper nourishment for the survival and flourishing of infants. This is Rene Spitz and BPD.
Spitz’s findings garnered significant attention and prompted institutions to modify their infant care practices to include holding, engaging, and nurturing.
Anaclitic Depression
Rene Spitz observed that extended separation of a young child from its caretakers resulted in significant emotional repercussions, including sadness, social isolation, hunger loss, sleep disturbances, and developmental abnormalities. This is anaclitic depression and BPD.
Rene Spitz’s research illuminated the profound effects of early childhood care, or its absence, on adult mental health.
Harlow’s Primates
In 1958, Harry Harlow conducted a renowned research aimed at uncovering the fundamental nature of parenting. The research was, by contemporary standards, very inhumane. This is Harry Harlow and BPD.
Harlow isolated infant monkeys from their moms. To ascertain the relative importance of nourishment vs comfort, he presented the infant monkeys with a selection of wire moms. One bottle of milk was uncovered, while the other was encased in plush terry fabric.
His findings indicate that infant monkeys preferred the soft “mother” for comfort over the bare wire “mother.” Moreover, infant monkeys who were provided with the soft wire surrogate exhibited superior emotional health and functionality compared to those that got just the bare wire mother.
Regrettably, all the infant monkeys reared with wire substitutes had challenges in integrating with their regularly nurtured counterparts. They exhibited particularly atypical behavior in the domains of sexuality and aggressiveness.
Efforts were undertaken to facilitate the evolution of the infant monkeys. Research indicated that introducing wire mother young monkeys into a cohort of younger monkeys enhanced their coping abilities. Some of them reacted by recommencing their growth and achieving more normalcy. This is Harlow's monkey experiments and BPD.
Harlow determined that “comfort contact” was a crucial component of early caregiving, and that infant monkeys did not flourish in its absence.
This result corroborates Rene Spitz’s findings about the need of physical touch and emotional comfort for the survival and psychological normalcy of human infants.
This suggests that several individuals unable to operate at a typical adult level due to insufficient parenting may benefit from suitable group treatment alongside others with comparable issues, irrespective of their age.
Margaret Mahler’s Research on Infant Development
Margaret Mahler and her associates aimed to investigate the interplay between a young child’s developmental stage and the mother’s parenting style in the emergence of Borderline Personality Disorder. This is Margaret Mahler and BPD.
She established a free childcare for moms with children aged 18 months to 3 years. In exchange for the complimentary nursery, the moms consented to be recorded while engaging with their kid.
Hypothesis: During this developmental stage, children exhibited heightened sensitivity to various types of abandonment trauma and inconsistent parenting that failed to align with their needs. This is BPD and fear of abandonment.
The idea was corroborated by film analysis, and the results were documented in the book: The Psychological Birth of the Human Infant (1975). A video was developed that continues to be shown in psychology schools examining the early origins of adult psychiatric illnesses.
Mahler and her colleagues designated this phase as “The Rapprochement Subphase of Separation and Individuation.” In colloquial terms, it is often referred to as the “Terrible Two’s.” This is Mahler's rapprochement subphase and BPD.
What is the significance of this phase?
Approximately at the age of two, youngsters begin to exhibit more independence. They possess the ability to walk and engage in limited verbal communication, as well as the capacity to distance themselves from the maternal figure. They are doing experiments using the expression “no.”
They may convey affection at one time and thereafter exhibit anger and animosity. They boldly toddle away but may thereafter become frightened or frustrated, prompting a desire to return to their mother for comfort and reassurance.
Not every mother or main caregiver comprehends that this phase is a typical aspect of growth towards autonomy. They must be capable of enduring rejection and verbal outbursts one moment, and then providing comfort and affection when the youngster seeks love and closeness.
Stella Chess and Andrew Thomas — The Mismatch Hypothesis
Chess and Thomas were academics involved in a longitudinal study examining the temperament factors of children from infancy to adolescence. The study examined individual variations in children and the varying ease of parenting among them (1977). This is Chess and Thomas and BPD.
Their idea was simple but sophisticated: Numerous adult psychiatric disorders may be attributed to a discrepancy between the emotional and physical demands of the growing kid and the caregiver’s capacity to fulfill these needs. This is the mismatch hypothesis and BPD.
What causes individuals with BPD to often struggle with solitude?
The primary reason most individuals with BPD struggle to be alone comfortably, according to the aforementioned studies, is because their early developmental years were compromised due to inadequate parenting. Consequently, they were unable to internalize an effective and constructive method of self-soothing. This is BPD and difficulty with solitude and lack of self-soothing and BPD.
The ability to self-soothe in alone seems to originate from a lack of adequate and regular soothing throughout early childhood. Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder often did not get enough attention from their main caregiver during a crucial developmental phase. Consequently, they failed to internalize a personality aspect capable of providing solace, reassurance, and rationality to assist them in enduring their bad emotions during alone moments. This is emotional resonance and BPD and maternal deprivation and BPD.
References
Harlow, H. (1958). The Nature of Love. American Psychologist. 13 (12), 673–685.
Mahler, M., Pine, F. and A. Bergman (1975). The Psychological Birth of the Human Infant: Symbiosis and Individuation. NY: Basic Books.
Spitz, R. (1946). Hospitalism: An Inquiry into the Genesis of Psychiatric Conditions in Early Childhood. In the Psychoanalytic Study of the Child.
Thomas, A., & Chess, S. (1977). Temperament and Development. NY: Brunner/Mazel.
To further your understanding, consider exploring developmental trauma therapy for BPD, attachment-based therapy for BPD, and early intervention for BPD. You can also research attachment theory and BPD, and learn about the impact of neglect on BPD. Remember, healing childhood trauma in BPD is possible with the right support.
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