If they had access to these memories of themselves, they would inform their conscious ego that they were in a dire, life-threatening situation, information that is too catastrophic to accept. Over time, these memories of themselves in relationship to their rejecting parent coalesce and form internal representations. The process of dissociation of memories of the self and of the parent is called "splitting of the ego" or simply "splitting", because part of the childs original conscious ego (or self) is "split off" from the rest of their normal view of themselves and hidden in their unconscious. Similarly, the memories of that part of the angry, enraged and irritated parent are split off from the "normal" aspects of the parent and held in the unconscious as well. The memories of the angry parent are appropriately called the "Rejecting Object" in Fairbairns model. "Object" is an awkward term used in psychoanalytic theory to designate a person outside the self. So both the terrified memory of themselves and the abusive aspect of the parent (the object) are split off from the conscious self and they become "part selves" and "part objects", The terrified part of the self (called the "Antilibidinal Ego" in Fairbairns model) and the terrorizing part of the object are cut off from consciousness and are no longer associated with the conscious representation of either the self or the object. This affords the child a (false) sense of security that prevents them from feeling anxious about their fate from moment to moment.
The childs unmet dependency needs from chronic emotional deprivation, as well as the complete lack of other human alternatives in their environment, leaves the child stuck at an earlier emotional age, as they have not been able to continue their developmental progress in the absence of parental help and support. Thus the child may be 12, but emotionally and developmentally they may experience the world like a six-year-old, as their increasingly developmental needs force them to focus on the abuser, waiting for any hint of developmental support. The child becomes concerned for the abusers welfare because their developmental progress hinges upon on the whims, moods and emotional state of the abusive parent. In addition to the pressure from unmet developmental needs, the child is also aware of the potential danger that can emerge from the volatile and aggressive parent, and anything that they can do to placate, please or draw praise from the abuser increases their chance of survival. The neglected or abused childs utter helplessness and absolute dependency upon the goodwill of their parents prevents them from "seeing" or remembering those interpersonal events in which they have faced indifference or physical abuse, as this awareness would overwhelm them and submerge them in a torrent of dread. This feeling of dread is most often experienced as a massive abandonment panic during those moments when the child realizes that they are living in constant danger with no one to help them to survive.