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The state of [[helplessness]] is linked to the [[infant]]'s initial [[power]]lessness in the face of its [[need]]s.
This causes [[distress]], as the protective shield is overwhelmed; only the intervention of another person can relieve this [[suffering]].
The neurophysiological model of [[Sigmund Freud]]'s "Project for a Scientific Psychology" (1950c [1895]) posits the [[baby]]'s original [[helplessness ]] as the prototype of all [[trauma]]tic situations.
[[Helplessness]] and [[satisfaction]] [[structure]] the two modes of mental functioning.
This is the foundation of what she calls the schizoid-paranoid position.
When a human being is reduced to a state of [[helplessness]], subjected to a primal kind of passivity by the impositions of others, he or she may seek to regain mastery through repetition of the experience.
For Kreisler et al. (1966), too much [[distress ]] of this kind may cause psychosomatic disorders; for Tustin (1972), the result may be recourse to autistic defenses.
The term '[[helplessness]]' ([[French]]: ''[[détresse]]''; [[German]]: ''[[Hilflosigkeit]]'') is used in [[psychoanalysis]] to denote the state of the newborn [[infant]] who is incapable of carrying out the specific [[action]]s required to [[satisfy]] its own [[need]]s, and so is completely dependent on other people (especially the [[mother]]).
# Freud, Sigmund. (1925). Inhibitions, symptoms and anxiety. SE, 20: 87-172.
# ——. (1950c [1895]). Project for a scientific psychology. SE, 1: 281-387.
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
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