I was reading this article on the American Journal of Psychiatry website called “Adult Baby Syndrome“. I was surprised to identify more with the psychiatrist seeing the adult baby than the adult baby! The basic summary is that this guy came asked to see a female therapist to help him grow up so that he could at some point achieve a normal domestic setting with a wife and children, but once he started coming to the meetings, he wouldn’t actually talk about anything, almost refusing to converse as an adult. Instead he just lied on the couch, drinking his bottle, and staring provocatively at the poor therapist. He kept asking to go somewhere to be made into a baby, to see the therapist in a nursery setting, and to have perscription for diapers to make him a baby. At the same time, he did understand that he wasn’t actually an infant. It seems that outside of work he spent all his time as an adult baby to the point that he had no friends and no girlfriend.
While a trip to the therapist’s office does sound like a hot way to start an AB scene (we actually just shot something like this upon recommendation from one of my live clients with me as the therapist and Cherry Torn as the AB), I have to wonder why this guy didn’t just go see a pro-domme. He mentioned wanting that perscription for diapers to make them less expensive, so maybe it was a financial issue. If he saw a therapist, perhaps his insurance helped pay for it. Or maybe he didn’t know that there were professional Mommies (unlikely) or he thought a scene with a pro wouldn’t feel “real” if he was paying a sex worker to create his fantasy.
Some of the email I’ve received from ABs and don’t receive from any other type of client leads me to believe it’s that last reason. I get a lot of emails from guys telling me that they can’t afford to buy one of my $10 videos. Since they’re not homeless, I’m guessing this isn’t true. They just feel like I’m being more maternal if I give them the video. Because real mothers always make dirty movies for their pre-verbal babies to watch on the computer, right? *rolls eyes* Still, it does seem to be a mental block particular to ABs. I just don’t understand it, maybe because I’m a pro Mommy.
From what I’ve read on other pro Mommy websites this seems to be a common theme. Pro Dominas don’t explain why they charge for their services like I’ve seen a few AB Mommies do on their sites. It’s understood that pro Dommes see hundreds of people and are in great demand, but if we only stuck with our partners, all those left over male players would just be SOL. We provide a valuable service and expect to be appropriately compensated and appreciated for it. A pro Mommy is no different. Not to mention that our landlords don’t make the rent on nurseries free, diaper companies don’t send us free diapers, toy companies don’t send us free toys, and we don’t have dozens of extra hours per week where we can just play and give up income. We like to maintain a basic standard of living. Believe me, we’re not raking it in. No matter what the glamorous pro Domme websites say, most of us are middle class and work very hard promoting and maintaining our businesses–just like everyone else.
But I’m wandering too far from the subject: the guy in the article. I understand why his therapist couldn’t give him what he needed, and I say needed because it was so consuming it had taken over his entire private life, but I don’t understand why he couldn’t get it himself. I also understand why his therapist couldn’t tell him what he needed to hear, which was that he had three options.
1. He could keep harassing nurses via the phone at night and having unfulfilling sessions with random therapists, being a nuisance that no one wanted to deal with and spending most of his time alone. I.e. stay the course.
2. He could find a job in and move to an area more accepting of adult babies (like San Francisco!) and get involved in the community, meeting other ABs and maybe someday even finding a Mommy. This way he could make all those friends he didn’t have and still completely be himself outside of work. This may not have worked for him because he seemed to want to exclude males from his scenes and there would be other AB males at play parties.
3. He could stop wearing diapers so often and find a girlfriend and start making friends, saving up his cash for a monthly visit to a pro Mommy. He could keep any tell-tale AB items at her space and otherwise have a traditional adult life.
Of course I would go for the second or third option, but this guy just seemed not to get it. Maybe making people uncomfortable was part of his kink. While in general I think the second option is best, for this particular guy, I would think that the third option would be preferable, due to the conclusions that his therapists drew about him, namely that “She [the therapist or fantasy Mother figure] must be completely under his control, an object that gratifies his fantasy life”, which is a role best filled by a skilled pro, and ” he had trouble establishing an intimate relationship, and his social isolation was striking”, which leads me to believe he might have trouble within the AB community, even as himself and may just come out feeling more isolated and revert back to making annoying phone calls and setting up therapy sessions under false pretenses.
This also reminded me of something I saw on some AB site a bit ago. Unfortunately I can’t remember which one. It advocated looking for a Mommy in the form of a healthcare homeworker, claiming diagnosis for a psychological need to act like a baby, which of course doesn’t really exist and if it did, how could you pick up the phone to schedule your own care? Sneaking a realationship based on lies and misunderstandings just seems so low, assuming that they agency would believe you and not just hang up in the first place. In addition, it’s using up resources that are meant to help people who really do need them and it’s unlikely the homeworker is really going ot understand what it is that the AB needs and wants. Even if she did, it would be inappropriate for him or her to snuggle up with the AB and lovingly offer a bottle, talking about how sweet the baby is and how he or she is going to change the AB’s diapers.
Overall the article was an interesting read, though of course I’m frustrated that this seems to be the only guy who represents adult babies to the Psychiatric world. On the other hand, I don’t think being an AB in itself is wrong, so why should healthy ABs seek counseling? This guy seems to have just been completely clueless and inconsiderate. The article probably spoke to me more than your average AB, though, since I could identify with the therapist’s frustration over an AB who refused to answer questions as an adult or schedule in advance. (Be in grown-up mode when you book! The phone and computer are NOT for babies!) As for the guy, I can only hope that he manages to get the wake-up call he needs in order to lead a fulfilling life as a grown-up or as a diapered AB.
