On The Couch: Why Y&R’s Summer Newman Abbott Lost Her Mind

Summer Newman Abbott was never the paragon of mental stability on The Young and the Restless. She loves Kyle! She can’t marry Kyle! She loves Kyle! She loves her mom! She sleeps with her mom’s boyfriend! She loves Kyle more! She loves her mom more!

On The Couch: Summer Newman Abbott

Oh, Summer (Allison Lanier)…honey, we know you haven’t had the easiest upbringing…or the easiest family life. But you’ve been managing to walk the razor’s edge between sane and insane so well for decades. What made you slip now? How about a seat on our couch? And a deep dive into your psyche.

Young and the Restless: Single Mom

Sure, Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) and Nick (Joshua Morrow) have broken up and reunited multiple times throughout Summer’s lifetime. But, nonetheless, for the majority of it, it was Phyllis and her Supergirl against the world. Summer loved her mommy.

Which is only to be expected. But she also had to know that not everyone loved her mommy. Grandpa Victor (Eric Braeden) and Grandma Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott), for instance. Her siblings’ mom and periodic stepmom, Sharon (Sharon Case). Summer’s favorite stepdad, Jack (Peter Bergman) – especially after Phyllis cheated on him with Billy (Jason Thompson).

Summer Newman Abbott: Deep Young and the Restless Denial

According to F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby guy), “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” No one has ever accused Summer of having first-rate intelligence. And, alas, Summer proved incapable of being able to deal with all the horrible things she knows her mother has done…while still continuing to love her. So she just chose to cling to the latter.

Y&R: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

No matter how hard she tried, Summer must have heard at least whispers of her mother’s more serious crimes, such as trying to run down Christine (Lauralee Bell), her stalking of the Williams newlyweds, not to mention the couple of people she was strongly suspected of killing. But in order to continue loving her mom, Summer had to keep denying the bad stuff and building Phyllis up more and more in her mind.

Is it any wonder it’s come to the point where she is furious at everyone who even suggests Phyllis may have done something wrong in framing Diane (Susan Walters)? If she allows herself to believe one bad thing about Phyllis, Summer will crumble and be forced to believe all the bad things. And her psyche absolutely cannot handle that right now.

The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. For an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

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