ABSTRACT
Magical thought can generate at any point within the mourning process and divert children from the tasks of healthy mourning. Magical thought may lead a child to believe that he or she has developed a method of mourning, but he or she has actually developed an unhealthy and complicated process of mourning. Magical thought offers children a double power-based system acting as a catalyst for dysfunctional behaviors, founded on their incomplete cognitive equipment. The Model of Magical Thought offers children some forms of power-based catalysts. Destructive magical thought, related to mourning, may have the potential to damage the development of a child’s personality. Cognitive distortions can attach to magical thought and fuel children into developing defense mechanisms and/or personality disorders. Magical thoughts fueled by cognitive distortions may develop into defense mechanisms and, for some children as they become adults, personality disorders.
