Freud_Burlingham_1943_War_and_Children_k_text

caused by neglect; it can, on the other hand,be a complicated neurotic expression and assuch only one symptom in the syndrome of aneurosis. But the wetting and dirtying whichbecame one of the main stumbling blocks ofbilleting are usually not of the more complicatedtype. Their beginning coincided mostlywith the break in the child's attachment, andit often disappeared after a few months whenthe child had succeeded in forming adequatenew relationships.FORMS OF GRATIFICATIONIn the early phase of infancy when the childis still "all selfish", it turns to its own bodyas a source of pleasure. Whenever comfortfrom the outside world is slow in coming orseems inadequate it provides extra pleasurefor itself by sucking its thumb. As it growsolder other parts of the body, its skin, thebody openings, rhythmic muscular movements,the sex parts themselves are used for the samepurpose. Under normal conditions of developmentthese autoerotic gratifications play a certainlimited role in its life. As the child learnsto send its feelings out towards loved objectsit also tries to derive its pleasures from them.When its attachments are interrupted it regressesin this respect as well to its formermethods of finding pleasure. Thumb-sucking76