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The Remembered Mother and the Fantasized Mother: A Crisis of Middle Age

The Remembered Mother and the Fantasized Mother: A Crisis of Middle Age Abstract Some aspects of those men who conduct ongoing searches for women to love are considered. An explanation is given based on certain aspects of memory and perception as they are especially influenced by the mid-life crisis. The explanation involves a denial of the aging process and an attempt to find a woman who more closely resembles the vaguely remembered fantasized mother of youth. The image of the wife is split in these situations: she becomes both a degraded, ugly object and an idealized woman. There is an accompanying idealization and hypersexualization of the self. A further factor may be a third reawakening of the oedipal conflict in middle age. Middle age is reviewed as a period with its own stages of psychological development and its own particular crises. References 1. Schilder P: The Image and Appearance of the Human Body . New York, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1964. 2. Horowitz MJ: Body image . Arch Gen Psychiat 14:456-460, 1966.Crossref 3. Deutsch H: Selected Problems of Adolescence , monograph 3 of the Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. New York, International Universities Press Inc, 1970. 4. Jacobsen E: The Self and the Object World . New York, International Universities Press Inc, 1964, p 117. 5. Gutmann D: Cross-cultural research on human behavior: A comparative study of the life cycle in the middle and later years, in Kretschmer M, Walcher D (eds): Environmental Influences on Genetic Expression, Fogarty International Center Proceedings No. 2. US Government Printing Office, 1971, p 237. 6. Gutmann D: An exploration of ego configurations in middle and later life , in Neugarten B (ed): Personality in Middle and Later Life . New York, Atherton Press, 1964. 7. Gutmann D: Aging among the highland Maya: A comparative study . J Personality Soc Psychol 7:28-35, 1967.Crossref 8. Erikson E: Identity and the life cycle . Psychol Issues 1:50-100, 1959. 9. Peck R: Psychological developments in the second half of life , in Neugarten B (ed): Middle Age and Aging: A Reader in Social Psychology . Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1968. 10. Butler RN: The life review: An interpretation of reminiscence in the aged . Psychiatry 26:65-76, 1963. 11. Klemme HL: Mid-life crisis . Menninger Perspective 1:2-6, 1970. 12. Neugarten B: Dynamics of transition of middle age to old age . J Geriat Psychiat 4:78, 1970. 13. Masters W, Johnson V: The aging female and the aging male , in Neugarten B (ed): Middle Age and Aging: A Reader in Social Psychology . Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1968. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archives of General Psychiatry American Medical Association

The Remembered Mother and the Fantasized Mother: A Crisis of Middle Age

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References (13)

Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 1972 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0003-990X
eISSN
1598-3636
DOI
10.1001/archpsyc.1972.01750300057009
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract Some aspects of those men who conduct ongoing searches for women to love are considered. An explanation is given based on certain aspects of memory and perception as they are especially influenced by the mid-life crisis. The explanation involves a denial of the aging process and an attempt to find a woman who more closely resembles the vaguely remembered fantasized mother of youth. The image of the wife is split in these situations: she becomes both a degraded, ugly object and an idealized woman. There is an accompanying idealization and hypersexualization of the self. A further factor may be a third reawakening of the oedipal conflict in middle age. Middle age is reviewed as a period with its own stages of psychological development and its own particular crises. References 1. Schilder P: The Image and Appearance of the Human Body . New York, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1964. 2. Horowitz MJ: Body image . Arch Gen Psychiat 14:456-460, 1966.Crossref 3. Deutsch H: Selected Problems of Adolescence , monograph 3 of the Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. New York, International Universities Press Inc, 1970. 4. Jacobsen E: The Self and the Object World . New York, International Universities Press Inc, 1964, p 117. 5. Gutmann D: Cross-cultural research on human behavior: A comparative study of the life cycle in the middle and later years, in Kretschmer M, Walcher D (eds): Environmental Influences on Genetic Expression, Fogarty International Center Proceedings No. 2. US Government Printing Office, 1971, p 237. 6. Gutmann D: An exploration of ego configurations in middle and later life , in Neugarten B (ed): Personality in Middle and Later Life . New York, Atherton Press, 1964. 7. Gutmann D: Aging among the highland Maya: A comparative study . J Personality Soc Psychol 7:28-35, 1967.Crossref 8. Erikson E: Identity and the life cycle . Psychol Issues 1:50-100, 1959. 9. Peck R: Psychological developments in the second half of life , in Neugarten B (ed): Middle Age and Aging: A Reader in Social Psychology . Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1968. 10. Butler RN: The life review: An interpretation of reminiscence in the aged . Psychiatry 26:65-76, 1963. 11. Klemme HL: Mid-life crisis . Menninger Perspective 1:2-6, 1970. 12. Neugarten B: Dynamics of transition of middle age to old age . J Geriat Psychiat 4:78, 1970. 13. Masters W, Johnson V: The aging female and the aging male , in Neugarten B (ed): Middle Age and Aging: A Reader in Social Psychology . Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1968.

Journal

Archives of General Psychiatry – American Medical Association

Published: Dec 1, 1972

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