Depressive Position

Depressive position is a developmental stage that is posited in object-relations theory. It refers to a stage of emotional development, usually encountered in the first year of life, when a child subliminally starts to realize that things and people can have both a positive and negative aspect. This realization, that is theoretically revisited throughout the lifetime, starts with the child's burgeoning understanding that they can have alternately positive and negative feelings towards their mother.