| Incident or Phrase Embedded within the Infant Unconscious | Later Problems |
| "Ugly little thing, isn't it?" | Low self-esteem with denial of actual beauty |
| "Get that baby breathing or we'll lose it!" | Asthma, depression, anxiety
|
| "This one will never walk right."
(Said about newborn with clubfoot) |
Negative self-imaging; fear of being seen by others |
| "Quiet down, take it easy, just relax."
(Said to mother during acute distress and narcotic was administered intravenously) |
Hypothyroidism; depressive
reactions to stress (acts to reduce glandular function)
|
| "It's a funny little thing, isn't it?"
(Said during circumcision trauma) |
Negative sexual self-imaging with possible dysfunciton; repressed anger and rage |
| Placed in incubator while hearing detached voices from all directions | Schizophrenia; acute sense of social isolation; claustrophobia, limited verbalization skills |
| Lack of maternal bonding | Inability to receive or give physical affection; sense of abandonment; parental alienation; confused sexual identity |
| Mother receives general anesthesia or narcotics | Drug abuse; alcoholism; thrill seekers (over-compensatory); depression; poor identity boundaries |
| Artificially induced labor or forceps delivery | Acute anxiety attacks; agoraphobia (fear of open spaces); asthma; dyslexia |