Page    1   2   3   of this article. Journal of Orgonomy Volume 29 no 1 Orgone Therapy: The Application of Functional Thinking in Medical Practice Part XVI: Children and Adolescents Charles Konia, M.D.   Children If the rigid armoring of the human animal is the basic common principle of all his emotional misery; if it is this armoring which puts him, alone among biological species, beyond the pale of natural functioning, then it follows logically that prevention of rigid armoring is the main and central goal of preventive mental hygiene. Wilhelm Reich (1:16)   There are two aspects of orgonomic neonatology, perinatology, and pediatrics that are essential elements in the training of every medical orgonomist. These are: the study of unarmored infants, children, and adolescents including an understanding of the prevention of armoring in the newborn and an understanding of the biopathic child including the removal of armor in children and adolescents. Little is known of unarmored humans primarily because conditions in our society make raising healthy children almost impossible. Also, because of structural limitations it is simply not possible for armored human beings to arrive at an accurate understanding of the healthy, unarmored human organism. In contrast, from outside the narrow armored perspective, Reich saw that the newborn child is, first of all, an orgonotic system, a bit of living nature governed by certain bioenergetic laws, and that social conditions interfere with the lawful processes intrinsic to the development of the healthy child. Armoring of young life and its deleterious, far-reaching consequences for the individual and for society is the result of this interference. Prevention of chronic armoring is the central goal of orgonomic mental hygiene. Orgone therapy of children and adolescents is thus an essential part of the training of every medical orgonomist. Not only are the manifestations of armor far easier to recognize in children but armor removal is more readily accomplished than in adults. This occurs because in the young child armor has not yet become rigidly fixed. Also, ideation and its defensive function is not fully developed. Hence, ocular armor is not as entrenched as in the adult. Finally, since genitality is not established until the child is about four or five years of age, the goal of treatment is the elimination of any obstacle interfering with natural development toward full genitality. These distinctions notwithstanding, orgone therapy of children is fundamentally no different than that of adults - the removal of armor with the establishment of spontaneous movement. Since character formation is usually not completed until after the oedipal period, removal of armor is almost entirely through somatic interventions rather than through character-analysis. 1 The medical orgonomist, with a history of how the child has func-tioned and with the findings of the biophysical examination, perceives the overall biophysical picture and focuses therapeutic intervention on the segment containing the major armor. 2 Frequently, the beneficial results are as rapid as they are dramatic. The precursors of the adult character are found in the typical behaviors of children. Since the young child is in a phase of rapid development, maturational disturbances such as eneuresis, speech and language disorders, and learning disabilities are also encountered. These are often the presenting symptoms when children and adolescents come for therapy. In order to know how to proceed, the medical orgonomist must correctly evaluate the function of childhood behavioral and developmental abnormalities. Because these problems arise or develop within the family milieu, a precise understanding of the child's relationship to the various family members, especially the parents, and his level of development, is essential. This understanding is based in part on a knowledge of the determinants of character formation 3 and of other factors that produce armor in non-erogenous segments. In evaluating these factors, the therapist determines whether it is the child, the parent(s), or both the child and parent(s) who require treatment. In some cases, the child is accepted for therapy and the parents' contribution to the problem is dealt with by superficial coun-seling. In other cases, where the parents' involvement in the child's problem is deep-seated, it may be advisable for one or both parents to enter therapy with or without therapy for the child. Sometimes the parents' presentation of the child for therapy is a defensive maneuver on their part, a disguised indication that the parent (or parents) and not the child, needs help. For this reason, the motivation(s) of the parent(s) for bringing the child to therapy must be clearly understood. Once the child is in therapy, behavioral manifestations may extend to the acting out of conflicts either in relationship to the therapist alone or to both the therapist and the parents. The significance of this behavior must be correctly understood. There are several other differences which distinguish the orgone therapy of children from that of adults. The child, because of his immaturity, is not expected to be responsible for being in therapy, in contrast to the adult who has to first commit to the therapeutic process. The presentation of the infant or child for ongoing treatment is the responsibility of the parent. This is another reason that the motivations of the parent(s) for bringing the child to therapy must be clearly understood. Also, because of the child's continuous relation-ship with the parents, essential in the child's development, the transference is not always a major aspect of therapy. As in the case of adults, transference situations may arise when the child's feelings toward a parent or therapist are blocked. Finally, even though character structure is formed, an accurate di-agnosis may be difficult to make because the child's pathology is being manifested behaviorally. In contrast to the orgone therapy of adults, this is not a major therapeutic impediment. Instead, the thera-pist is guided by the child's surface behavior manifestations and also by the location and severity of somatic armor. To the well-trained medical orgonomist these signs and symptoms are sufficient to guide the course of therapy.   The Development of Armor in Children From a functional (energetic) perspective, the infant or child is an expanding orgonotic system undergoing rapid growth and develop-ment. Environmental disturbances of this system can occur at any time. The earlier the disturbance, the more profound are its effects. The child's development can be divided into four periods: prenatal, birth, postnatal (up to about age five or six years), and finally, pu-berty and adolescence. At each period, disturbances can be divided according to whether they arise from the parents, from other exog-enous sources, or from a combination of the two.   Prenatal Period From the moment of conception, the maternal organism undergoes profound biophysical expansion with swelling and orgonotic charg-ing of the tissues. In the human this lasts nine months and prepares for the hours-long birth process, the convulsive (discharge and relax-ation) phase of the pulsatory cycle. Thus gestation and birth are simply two component functions of the pulsatory cycle of expansion and convulsion. In this cycle the single-celled fertilized ovum devel-ops into a highly organized metazoal system by the time of birth. Within this single cycle there are myriad other cycles of shorter du-ration which govern fetal development both in terms of specializa-tion of function and growth. At birth, the unarmored infant is ready to begin its independent life while still dependent on orgonotic con-tact with the mother for optimal further development. Genetic dysfunction reflects a disturbance in the expansive phase early in the pulsatory cycle and results in spontaneous abortion when vital functions are adversely affected during the first trimester. The deleterious, irreversible effects on the developing fetus of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs ingested by the expectant mother are well--known. Not so well understood, however, are the effects of a severely contracted armored maternal uterus on fetal pulsation. By impeding pulsation, and hence the growth and development of the fertilized ovum and fetus, this factor can account for the transmission of armor from parent to offspring at any time during gestation. Similarly, since disturbances in genetic functioning are inseparable from the pulsatory function of cell division, the damaging effects of a contracted uterus can produce a profound delay in, or even an arrest of, fetal develop-ment. This accounts for a weakening of the fetal biosystem which may give rise to genetic malformations. This subject will be further elaborated on when the genetic function is discussed in greater de-tail. Disturbances in uterine pulsation also give rise to specific pulsatory disturbances in the fetus. Irregularities in fetal respiratory movements, for example, are frequently observed on sonographic examination during the last trimester. This may be evidence of fetal thoracic or diaphragmatic armor and that the process of armor for-mation occurs in utero. 4   Birth Severe labor pains interrupting the birth of the fetus arise from a dis-turbance in the convulsive phase of the pulsatory cycle and are a manifestation of pelvic armor. In their origin, they are related to men-strual cramps. Both are a result of intense energetic expansion (with the expulsion of pelvic contents) in the presence of chronic pelvic armor. 5 The organism is stuck in a state of mechanical swelling and energetic charge. From this energetic perspective, adequate preparation of the mother for delivery attempts to maintain unhindered orgonotic pulsation, contact with herself, and contact with the fetus as much as her bio-physical structure permits. In the ideal situation the mother has little or no armor and there are no external impediments to the process of labor. At the other extreme the mother is so heavily armored in the pelvis or out of touch with somatic sensations that vaginal delivery is contraindicated. Most women are found somewhere in between these two extremes. Pulsatory disturbances occurring during labor result from the con-tinuing effects of the chronically contracted uterus. The effect of maternal pelvic armor on the fetus is the same throughout all stages of gestation: fetal development is impeded with deposition of armor either in acute or chronic form. It is logical to assume that armoring in the newborn occurs more readily in those segments that are biologically vulnerable. This is the "genetic" factor which consists of a weakening of the fetal pulsatory function at an earlier stage of development. 6 During the birth process the destructive traumatizing effects of cold inhospitable labor and delivery rooms, the mechanical, impersonal treatment of mother and newborn by the hospital staff, the fluores-cent lights and harsh sounds are added to the harmful effects of ma-ternal armor to further damage the newborn. Even the "advances" of modern medicine, such as fetal monitoring and intravenous Pitocin to induce labor, interfere with the natural process of labor and deliv-ery and are associated with higher rates of birth by Cesarean section. Additional damaging trauma comes in the form of isolation of the newborn from the mother, swaddling, constant exposure to harsh fluores-cent lighting in the nursery, and circumcision of infant boys. All of these practices are rationalized as being for "the good" of the new-born. Is it any wonder that with this machine-like treatment at the earliest stage of postnatal life many children grow up far short of their biological, emotional potential, and are often described as hyper- or hypoactive, "wired," or unfocused?   Postnatal Period to Age Six Although Reich formulated his understanding of character formation and its determinants during his psychoanalytic period when the ex-istence of biological orgone energy was unknown, this understanding remains just as valid today. Reich's thinking in functional energetic terms enabled him to understand the dynamics of character forma-tion even before the specific bioenergetic functions underlying them were discovered. Educating parents and mental health professionals in the fundamentals of orgonomic knowledge can help prevent armoring in infancy and childhood if there is sufficient health in the adult to allow for perception of the significance of these concepts. At no other time are the biological needs of the infant so inadequately met as at the time of birth. The harsh, inhumane treatment that the newborn experiences goes almost universally unnoticed. Because of their own armor, adults involved in the care of the new-born have no sense of their destructive behaviors. This obliviousness is caused by their own armored character structure and is the physical basis for the transmission of armor from one generation to the next. The newborn's response to this harsh welcome is to protect itself. Since the solar plexus is the biological core, the organism's first defense is to inhibit energy flow (emotion) by armoring in the diaphragm. It then armors in the ocular segment against the painful perception of the external world. These defensive maneuvers are just the begin-ning of a systematic armoring process experienced by virtually every infant. The interruption in ocular development interferes with the child's (and the later adult's) ability to see the world in an undistorted manner and to make rational life decisions. It is also the basis for every kind of political irrationalism. Deprivation of satisfaction in breast-feeding due to an energetically unresponsive maternal nipple or excessive breast-feeding in an at-tempt to find satisfaction both result in oral armor which manifests in later life in such symptoms as depression, helplessness, mood swings, etc. Another biophysical consequence of disturbed breast-feeding is armoring of the head and neck which gives rise to poor eye-hand--neck coordination, speech disorders of various kinds including stuttering, mutism and laconic speech, eating disturbances, fear of or aversion to kissing, hysterical vomiting, etc. Somatic manifestations include a predisposition to allergies, weakening of the immune func-tion, obesity, malnourishment, etc.    next page Page    1   2   3   of this article.   1.  After the oedipal phase, the character assumes increasing importance in therapy. However, in the rare instance when a child's muscular armor is extreme, character armor may be fully functional before the oedipal phase.  back to text 2.  In contrast, traditional child psychiatry, until recently, has relied almost exclusively on a psychological approach to the diagnosis and treatment of childhood and adolescent disorders. With the limitation of this approach, especially in the disorders having their origins during the first year of life before consciousness and language have fully developed, and with no apparent alternative available, the psychiatrist has been increasingly drawn into the pharmacological treatment of childhood disorders.  back to text 3.  Character formation involves armoring of the erogenous zones as discussed in Orgone Therapy: Part V, Journal of Orgonomy, 21 (2):223-236, 1987.  back to text 4.  Some fetuses become agitated during ultrasonography. It is possible that the testing procedure itself is responsible for the respiratory disturbances observed. This observation, therefore, requires further investigation. : back to text 5.  Chronic pelvic armor must be distinguished from physical inadequacy of the mother's pelvic outlet (cephalo-pelvic disproportion) which is an anatomic (skeletal) limitation to vaginal delivery.  back to text 6.  The armored physician and scientist, thinking mechanistically, are structurally unable to recognize and understand the bioenergetic nature of life, and closely related to it, the etiology of human illness in the blocking of energy flow by armor starting in infancy and childhood.  back to text