In 1974, after months of anger and anxiety, Ms. R, “a 23-year-old attractive married
woman,” wrapped her child’s crib sheet around her neck in an attempt to hang herself.
She’d been carrying a pregnancy that her husband did not want and miscarried in the
second trimester. Her psychotherapist determined that the suicide attempt was the
result of “pathological morbid grief,” while the miscarriage itself resulted from
“preexisting sadomasochistic conflicts” and “conflicts about the feminine biological
role.” Miscarriage was “an unconscious alternative to motherhood,” and women who miscarried
“were more closely attached to their fathers than to their mothers” (
1
). In other words, when a pregnancy went awry and a woman suffered psychologically,
she had no one to blame but herself.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
- Pathological grief following spontaneous abortion.Am J Psychiatry. 1974; 131: 825-827
- They lost their pregnancies. Then prosecutors sent them to prison..(Available at:)https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/09/01/they-lost-their-pregnancies-then-prosecutors-sent-them-to-prisonDate: 2022Date accessed: December 22, 2022
- Psychological morbidity following miscarriage.Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2007; 21: 229-247
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 06, 2023
Accepted:
January 5,
2023
Received in revised form:
January 4,
2023
Received:
December 19,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 Society of Biological Psychiatry.
