ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights how the ability to self-regulate is fundamental to human mental health, yet it would seem to be one of the most common missing factors in our understanding of mental illness and maternal mental illness. The chapter begins by describing what affects are and then goes onto explain what affect regulation actually means, and why it is so fundamental as a means of modulating extremes of emotion. The author uses a diagram to show the first three fundamental levels of how affect regulation is built up from birth and is due to the relational engagement and attachment an infant receives from its primary caregivers. It also highlights what happens to the infant when these relational and attachment needs are not met.
