Diagnosis and childhood: a perspective from the psychoanalysis

Abstract

One of the singularities of childhood is that it is us, the adults, the ones who talk about it, authorized by our transitional stage of having lived it, we say what the infants want and what they need, we establish conditions
that lead to principles of relationships with children. Diagnosis refers to the collection and analysis of information to evaluate problems and establish the nature of any disease. The use of diagnosis in psychological disciplines is ongoing and it’s full of problematic vicissitudes. Childhood is one of the structuring and instituting periods of subjectivity in individuals. Parents and institutions are the ones who demand attention and diagnosis derived from a gathering of professionals. This article is meant to reflect on some of the incidences that occur during childhood in relation to the diagnosis, from a psychoanalytic point of view. Diagnosis is not produced as a certainty, as seen from the perspective of psychoanalysis, nor can be set by a couple of interviews; it is given in relation to speech and transference.