ABSTRACT
The section closes with a chapter entirely devoted to the concept of silencing – an active and deliberate attempt to make it impossible for a person or group to articulate her voice and, thus, identity. Aleksandar Dimitrijević writes about the role of this malignant mechanism in transforming trauma into a mental disorder. Silencing is here explored on three levels: first, in the domain of attachment trauma, then as the conspiracy of silence on a group level, and finally in psychoanalysis itself, mostly when it comes to education but also with the concern that treatments can sometimes be retraumatizing. The reviewed empirical evidence shows that (1) traumatic experiences can be overcome when recognized and acknowledged, (2) they are predictive of mental disorders when, in the case of abused children, caregivers behave as if nothing happened or actively prevent the child from expressing her story and her feelings.
