Child Rearing | Charles Konia, M.D.

Adolescent Homosexuality

Adolescent sexuality is one of the most anxiety-producing and confusing situations confronting parents today. The combination of unexpressed misery, neurotic anger and rebelliousness resulting from the adolescent’s intense sexual frustrations makes this a particularly difficult time for adolescent and parent alike. The problem becomes compounded because of the following complicating factors:

1. Unrecognized and unresolved sexual and other problems in parents themselves.

2. The breakthrough of enormous quantities of anxiety in the younger generation resulting from the breakdown of the authoritarian family.

3. The sexual over-stimulation and unbridled economic exploitation of an already over-stimulated younger population by the media including, in particular, the entertainment industry.

4. The abundance of sexual misinformation that is being circulated as gospel: The general acceptance of every kind of neurotic (pre-genital) sexual activity and the evasion of any discussion of healthy, genital, heterosexual activity.

The confusion generated by this highly charged and volatile social state of affairs easily triggers the expression of all forms of the emotional plague. In the case of adolescent homosexuality, the line becomes drawn between those who favor a laissez faire attitude and are willing to permit it and those who see it as a sign of emotional sickness and discourage it.

Unfortunately, both groups see the problem from a superficial, symptomatic perspective. Even in our age of sexual enlightenment, neither group fully recognizes the particular importance of the role that the sexual function plays in regulating the healthy adolescent’s emotional life and this widespread ignorance and evasion of the essential directly gives rise to these contradictory and irreconcilable points of view.

December 17, 2010
Categories: Biological Sciences, Child Rearing, Medical Sciences, Social Sciences . . Author: Charles Konia, M.D. . Comments: 2 Comments

Two Opposing Views Of Intrauterine Life

Sponsored by the American College of Orgonomy, medical orgonomist Theodota Chasapi, M.D. gave a presentation on The Roots of Love and Hate, The impact of Early Mother-Baby Bonding on Our Ability to Love, at the Princeton Public Library on October 2, 2010. She presented recent findings that confirmed many of the discoveries regarding newborns and infants made in the 1940’s and 50’s by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.

Applying Reich’s clinical findings on infants, Dr.Chasapi discussed the period of life from the intrauterine through the neonatal period. Characterized by intense emotional liveliness and responsiveness of the fetus to mother, she showed that this time was crucial in the future development of the human organism. For example, the various emotional states that are experienced in the mother’s daily life such as pleasure and anxiety were often reflected in the identical expressive movements (expansion and contraction) in the fetus. She reported that a healthy birth process is not simply the mechanical expulsion of the fetus from the mother’s womb but an active process in which both mother and fetus participate. She demonstrated that the newborn is not helpless as is commonly believed, but is able to crawl up the mother’s belly and find the nipple. Emphasizing the importance of maintaining emotional and physical contact between mother and newborn (orgonotic contact, Reich) during and following birth, she stressed the need to prevent disruption of this contact by well-meaning adults, such as removing the infant for tests.

There is another view of intrauterine life which has recently appeared, one that on the surface seems identical but on closer examination is quite the contrary (see How the First Nine Months Shape the Rest of Your Life in Time Magazine , October 4, 2010). Called Fetal Origins, it is the application of mechanistic/mysical principles to the study of fetal life where only physical, quantitive factors such as nutrition, pollutants, drugs and infections are considered the significant influences on healthy fetal development. Since emotions are not correctly understood by mechanistic scientists, these factors are mentioned only as in passing. Although the mechanical causes are real, the unrecognized emotional disturbances of the mother are the major causes of intrauterine fetal damage. Focusing primarily on these physical factors serves as an evasion of the emotional development of the infant.

October 6, 2010
Categories: Biological Sciences, Child Rearing, Medical Sciences . . Author: Charles Konia, M.D. . Comments: Leave a comment

Is there anything wrong with giving pacifiers to children?

Yes. Pacifiers provide substitute contact and are often used in a contactless, mechanical way (the current “fashion”) and/or to keep children quiet. They interfere with the child’s ability to learn how to regulate oral needs, leaving a chronic sense of oral dissatisfaction. This may contribute significantly to laying the foundation for eating disorders and possibly obesity in later life.

The practice of providing substitute contact often continues in older children. Like pacifiers, television and video and computer games become substitutes for normal play, activities which are necessary for the child’s overall development, especially the work function.

Perhaps if parents were in better contact with their children, pacifiers would not be necessary.

April 21, 2010
Categories: Child Rearing, Medical Sciences . . Author: Charles Konia, M.D. . Comments: 1 Comment

Can shows like “Hannah Montana” be a bad influence on younger children?

A lot of moms do not allow their kids to watch, for example, “Hannah Montana” or “High School Musical” or see “Spider Man” or “Harry Potter” because they feel they condone violence/bad values (such as talking back to your parents, lying, cheating, etc.). Can watching these shows/movies be a bad influence on younger children (under 10) and hurt their development and play a factor in how they will deal with society as they grow older?

The problem is not this or that TV show or movie. Children need a role model, and if the parents and other significant adults in the child’s world (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.) do not have genuine emotional contact with the child, then he or she will necessarily resort to substitute measures such as television programs, movies, the internet and video games for learning modes of behavior. A healthy relationship, however, between the child and parent, or parent substitute, provides the means for children to differentiate what is shown on TV and elsewhere and what is considered appropriate behavior in the real world. Certainly, viewing gratuitous violence, bad values and obscenity is not desirable, but in many instances these depictions can provide a contactful opening to discuss issues that the child is wondering about and give the parent an opportunity to explain why the anti-social behavior is not acceptable.

April 6, 2010
Categories: Child Rearing, Medical Sciences . . Author: Charles Konia, M.D. . Comments: 2 Comments