I read the article Neglecting neglect: some thoughts about children who have lacked good input, and are ‘undrawn’ and ‘unenjoyed’. This article focuses on children that were emotionally neglected early on in their lives. The probability of these children having long-term effects of this neglect is very high if not noticed by professionals or someone who is willing to take the time to try and help them. In one case, the child was left alone in the crib most of the time and not given much physical input from the people around her. This made it difficult for her to show emotions whether positive or negative. She was considered a good child because she never asked for any help or required any attention. Because of her lack of being needy, she was starting to slip under the radar when compared to more needy students in her school or siblings at home who required more attention.
Another case involved a child with a depressed mother who also left him alone most of the time. He was considered a loner at school and had no social interactions with other students. Since he was not shown much attention as an infant, he was unable to develop the normal social skills to interact with peers at school. Patients like those described in these two cases are often considered hard to reach by most therapists. Therapists often feel bored or not alive just as the children seem to them. All too often, only the negative aspects of neglected children are focused on when we should also focus on the positive emotions such as simple enjoyment of things. Children that do not seem needy or not as high maintenance as others that require attention all of the time, are perceived to be doing fine and in no need of our help. If these children are not reached mentally and emotionally before they go unnoticed, they run the risk of suffering further neglect later in their