Part 3/6:
When faced with a mother who is emotionally or psychologically dysfunctional, children are confronted with a harrowing choice. The transcript explains that this situation is terrifying because acknowledging a mother’s dysfunction could threaten their survival (feeding and shelter).
Two paths emerge:
Acknowledging the dysfunction: This is immensely frightening since it implies the mother might neglect or abandon the child, risking harm or death.
Self-blame: The child instead internalizes the chaos and dysfunction, believing the problem lies within themselves. They conclude they are the cause of the issues, embodying wrongness, failure, and defectiveness.
This internalization leads to:
- A lifelong belief that they are wrong.