ABSTRACT
Analyst Wilfred Bion brought his experiences to understanding those primitive states which can continue on through life. Bion articulated how, when under the sway of discomfort, the infant bears primitive, panicky experiences. His sensations, since not yet named, are literally unthinkable. They are felt as bad, toxic and, without help, the only way to manage them is to fragment them somehow and get rid of them from mind. A mother who can bear to notice her infant’s distress, without feeling too panicked herself, can manage it in her mind like emotional digestion. When feeling lost, in a panic or shut down, fight or flight can at least seem to offer a possibility of finding some aliveness, some connection, however frustrating. When feelings such as a longing for connection and help feel too dangerous, we can lodge them in someone else and become a good carer of the need, which is all out there, in them.
