Fatherhood and emotional illness

Abstract

The authors describe four cases in which men developed emotional illnesses related to their wives' pregnancies. In all of the cases, the patients had experienced sibling rivalry at a significant time in their lives. This factor seemed to be more important dynamically in understanding their feelings about fatherhood than previously proposed factors, such as envy of the wife's childbearing capacity, dependence on the wife, and neurotic conflict with the oedipal father. The authors suggest that in men with neuroses, the issue of sibling rivalry is an important determinant of reactions to fatherhood.