The parent cannot facilitate the child's liberty, because the parent knows the child is no longer worthy of his or her trust. The girl's behavior also parallels someone at the end of life, suffering from dementia or loss of consciousness, as the girl's memory and frame of reference are changed because of the inescapable nature of her condition. She is no longer capable of taking care of herself and functioning in a normal way, nor can her parent have a secure hope that this phase will pass, and the child can be healed. Who is this person I once knew, is it the person, or the illness? The body looks the same but the behavior and character, what society calls the self, is altered.

Regan's mother wants her daughter 'back.' She wants to be able to relate to her child once again, and predict her child's behavior. In essence, she wants her child's sense of self to become as it once was, before the child became ill. The cognitive dissonance of seeing...