In psychoanalytic theory, the Jocasta complex is the incestuous sexual desire of a mother towards her son.
A toxic mother and son relationship results from a manipulative, over-protective, abusive, or controlling mother. Such behavior can have long-lasting effects on the son's mental health and impact his adult life.
The obsession or focus a narcissistic parent has on a child often has to do with the parent's own emotional needs. Narcissistic parents support children's “greatness” and encourage their talents, with the excuse that they love their child and are sacrificing themselves for the child's future.
When a mother is enmeshed with her son, the son becomes a mamma's boy. He's exactly like his mother. He has no separate life, identity, or values. The enmeshed son cannot separate from her mother even as an adult.
1. The sexual desire, usually latent, that a mother has for a son or. 2. The domineering and intense, but non-incestuous love that an affect-hungry mother has for an intelligent son, and an often absent or weak father figure.
In childhood and adolescence, intrusive parenting may involve excessive guidance on how the child should think or feel. In adulthood, intrusive parenting or autonomy restriction may manifest by providing excessive instruction or limitations concerning their child's lifestyle or career-related choices among others.
Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a mental illness and a form of child abuse. The caretaker of a child, most often a mother, either makes up fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick.
Codependent parents rely on their children to give to them, instead of giving to their children. This is known as parentification. By continually showing your child that you were a victim, you're relying on them to give you the emotional support you need.
What causes two people to become enmeshed? The causes of enmeshment can vary. Sometimes there is an event or series of occurrences in a family's history that necessitates a parent becoming protective in their child's life, such as an illness, trauma, or significant social problems in elementary school.
Some signs that you might be living vicariously through your child include: Becoming obsessively involved in your child's activities, at the expense of your own well-being or hobbies. This behavior is sometimes called helicopter parenting.
A narcissistic mother may feel entitled or self-important, seek admiration from others, believe she is above others, lack empathy, exploit her children, put others down, experience hypersensitivity to criticism, believe she deserves special treatment, and worst of all, maybe naïve to the damage she is causing.
Many narcissistic mothers idealize their young son. They build his confidence and sense of importance. As he matures and challenges her control, she disparages his emerging individuality and tries to correct and change him. To boost her ego, she may brag about her son to her friends, but is critical at home.
Emotional or covert incest is a form of abuse where parents treat their children like a romantic partner. These parents expect their children to meet their needs in a way that another adult should. Unlike physical incest, it does not involve sexual abuse.
Enmeshment is a form of emotional abuse. Living through any kind of abuse can lead to mental health issues. Some common mental illnesses that are connected to enmeshment include depression, anxiety, substance misuse, and eating disorders.
Is Parentification Trauma? Parentification can be a form of parental neglect or abuse, particularly in extreme cases. This can result in what's known as relational trauma.
People who have experienced enmeshment trauma often have dysfunctional adult intimate relationships. They did not feel loved for who they were as children, more what they could do for their parents (conditional love). This can create a core belief of being unloveable, and lead to self-sabotaging behaviours.
Childhood trauma is often a root cause of codependency. They don't always result, but for many people codependent relationships are a response to unaddressed past traumas. One reason may be that childhood trauma is usually family-centered: abuse, neglect, domestic violence, or even just divorce and fighting.
Mental health experts borrowed criteria of codependent behavior from dependent personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and histrionic personality disorder. Even without a clear diagnosis, giving up on someone with mental illness should be avoided.
Parents with high neuroticism scores were characterized by low psychosocial functioning, poor parenting, more dependent stressful life events, and the use of more emotion-focused and less task-oriented coping skills.
Emotionally absent or cold mothers can be unresponsive to their children's needs. They may act distracted and uninterested during interactions, or they could actively reject any attempts of the child to get close. They may continue acting this way with adult children.
In the eyes of the #actuallyautistic community, an autism martyr mom is a mom who expresses negativity about autism and complains about how it has impacted her life. They believe autism moms are using their children to seek pity.