The following article presents a personal perspective of the internal experience of “primal terror.” Primal terror is the emotional experience with one's inability to naturally maintain one's balance in opposition to gravity and to integrate vestibular input. Vignettes describe the impact of this phenomenon on one's self-concept, self-esteem, level of body tension, trust, and Weltanschauung. Perceptual issues in primal terror are discussed in relation to other visual and psychological dilemmas often associated with sensorymotor dysfunction. Implications for remediation are discussed.
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References
1.
Darwin, C., The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals. London: John Murray Co., 1872.
2.
Freud, S., A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis. New York, Permabooks Edition, 1953.
