Comment: Injuries that Hurt – A Comment to “Embitterment – Conception of a Potential Moderator to Dysfunctional and Aggressive Behaviour in Children and Adolescents”

Abstract

This comment discusses the article of Balder and Linden (2022), who debate the existence and role of embitterment in child and adolescent psychopathology. This topic appears highly relevant, but broader literature should be integrated when talking about embitterment. First, we question the conceptualization of embitterment as an emotion. We conceptualize it as a long-term emotion episode that stems from events involving severe and unresolved hurt feelings, also referred to as attachment injuries and narcissistic injuries. When overly intense, they might lead to PTED. In contrast to Balder and Linden (2022), we argue that specific psychotherapeutic treatments exist. Nonetheless, we join Balder and Linden (2022) in calling for more attention for embitterment and hurt feelings and their role in developmental psychopathology.