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Passion-pain-passion: pathos, morning and melancholy on the occasion of a child born with disabilities

The birth of a child with a severe developmental disorder affects, as a crisis, the development of its parents. The loss of the idealized child requires mourning. However, the emotional identification with the pathos-passion becomes an obstacle to that process and to the bonding to the newborn, who has its qualities and disabilities, and who may not be able to occupy any space in the emotional life of its parents, since they are struggling with their pathos-pain. This paper discusses ways to escape melancholy and alternatives to manage the emotional distress, encouraging parental engagement and attachment to disabled children.

Disability; attachment; melancholy; mourning


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