Reborn Babies: Is playing and collecting dolls in adulthood a problem?

In recent weeks, the Reborn babies -Handmade dolls to look like real babies, being known for their hyperrealist details-have gained media notoriety and social networks.

Although there are decades ago, Reborn Art recently drew attention after some influencers viral with content made with their Reborn Babies collections. In addition, the matter has generated legal fights, bills in Congress and warnings on prohibition of use of mothers’ rights with young children.

The main debate around the controversy of Reborn babies is the supposed fine line between healthy – the act of playing and having babies Reborn as a hobby, such as most collectors – and a possible commitment to mental health.

According to Larissa Fonseca clinical psychologist, playful activities such as doll play, activate areas of the brain related to creativity, relaxation and pleasure. “Adulthood can have playful breaks, as long as it does not become an escape from reality,” he says to CNN . Therefore, playing and collecting Reborn babies is not necessarily a problem.

In addition, for psychoanalyst Fabiana Guntovitch, playing and collecting dolls, such as Reborn babies, can be a therapeutic activity, as long as consciously and intentionally done, accompanied by psychotherapeutic work.

“It can be therapeutic to be an opportunity to elaborate this person’s pain and internal issues, who is using a symbol to relate not to the doll, but with themselves,” says Guntovitch.

The psychoanalyst cites one example: a lady who has Alzheimer’s and uses the Reborn baby as a relaxation therapy. “Within Alzheimer’s, she is living the time when her children were babies. And having a Reborn doll calms her. This is extremely therapeutic to help this lady who is in an inner reality,” he says.

However, Guntovitch stresses that items, toys and other leisure and hobbies activities do not replace psychotherapy.

In addition, psychologist Larissa Fonseca adds that Reborn babies can function as a “transitional object” in mourning processes or fighting depression. “Care for the doll, in some depressive cases, can stimulate the resumption of a routine or affection itself, care, affection and love,” he explains. However, it reiterates: “It is essential that it is punctual and even accompanied by a professional.”

Why have Reborn babies generate so much controversy?

If adults play or collect dolls is normal – and in some cases even therapeutic – so why has the Reborn universe generated so much controversy? For Guntovitch, society does not appreciate the act of playing in adulthood, especially when this is focused on the feminine.

“Men play video games are often considered normal. But for the feminine there is resistance,” he says. “Playing in adulthood is healthy and therapeutic, such as coloring, drawing, gathering puzzle, playing video games and even playing with dolls,” he adds.

In addition, the expert believes that there may be a matter related to socially defined gender roles. “The expected place of women in society is to serve the other. So, by devoting her time to something that is not for another, it is for herself – like playing doll – the woman causes strangeness,” he says.

“Socially, women do not have this space. Socially, it is believed that the 24 hours of women should be dedicated to serving family, work, children, neighbors, parents, others,” he adds.

It is, therefore, that it is difficult to see men playing with reborn babies, although there are also some collectors – such as Father Fábio de Melo. “A boy playing dolls is not even accepted in childhood, who will say in adulthood,” says Guntovitch. “We are talking about stereotypes and structural machismo.”

When can playing and collecting Reborn babies be a problem?

To understand if there is any commitment to mental health when playing or collecting Reborn babies, you must first understand if there are damage to the adult routine, according to experts.

“Any diagnosis do we observe from the commitment of the person’s routine: is she stop working? She is living in that object? She is suffering excessively from this symptom? What is the commitment in her life?”, Explains Fonseca.

“To assess whether it is a mental disorder or if it is a matter between fantasy and reality, [é preciso observar] If there is isolation, if there is intense suffering without object, if there is damage to social, family and professional relations, and if there is the use exclusively of the object for emotional filling, ”he warns.

Guntovitch also adds that it is important to analyze the entire context and the dynamics that the woman has with the baby Reborn. “It is one thing to take the baby to the places they go to because people are curious and want to know him. Another thing is to lead him to commitments because, supposedly, he cannot be alone,” he exemplifies.

“We need to look at the subjectivity of the same act, why and how the person is living the hobby and the meanings that gives it. These factors will indicate whether the person is well or not,” he says.

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Was this content originally published in babies Reborn: Is playing and collecting dolls in adulthood a problem? on the CNN Brazil website.

Source: CNN Brasil