Abandoned child syndrome

Abandoned child syndrome is a proposed behavioral or psychological condition that results primarily from the loss of one or both parents, or sexual abuse. Abandonment may be physical (the parent is not present in the child's life) or emotional (the parent withholds affection, nurturing, or stimulation).[1] The abandoned child syndrome is not recognized as a mental disorder in any of the medical manuals, such as the ICD-10[2] or the DSM-IV,[3] neither is it part of the proposed revision of this manual, the DSM-5.[4]

Abandoned child syndrome
SpecialtyPsychiatry

Parents who leave their children, or when a parent is alienated from their children by the other parent (after a bitter divorce, DCHS, foster care), can cause psychological damage to the child. This damage is reversible, but only with appropriate assistance.[5] Abandoned children may also often suffer physical damage from neglect, malnutrition, starvation, and abuse.[6]

Signs and symptoms

Symptoms may be physical or mental, and may extend into adulthood and perhaps throughout a person's life.

  • Alienation from the environment – withdrawal from social activities and resistance towards others.
  • Guilt – the child believes that they did something wrong that caused the abandonment (often associated with depression).
  • Fear and uncertainty – "clinginess" and insecurities.[7]
  • Sleep and eating disorders – malnutrition, starvation, disturbed sleep and nightmares.[7]
  • Physical ailments – fatigue, drug and alcohol abuse, anxiety, depression, lack of energy and creativity, anger, and grief.[7]

Causes

When children are raised without the psychological or physical protection they need, they may internalize incredible fear. This is known as chronic loss. Not receiving the necessary psychological or physical protection results in abandonment. If children live with repeated abandonment, this creates experiences causes toxic shame. Shame arises from the painful message implied in abandonment: "You are not important. You are not of value." This is the pain from which people need to heal.[8]

See also

Notes
  1. Henley, Arthur. "The abandoned child." Deviancy and the family. Ed. Clifton D. Bryant and J. Gipson Wells. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis, 1973. 199-208.
  2. "ICD 10". Priory.com. 2007-02-10. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  3. "BehaveNetŽ Clinical Capsule™: DSM-IV-TR Classification". Behavenet.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-26. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  4. "Disorders Usually First Diagnosed in Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence | APA DSM-5". Dsm5.org. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  5. "Children Deprived of Parental Care". Human Rights Watch. 2006. Archived from the original on 2008-05-13.
  6. Golden, M. H.; Samuels, M. P.; Southall, D. P. (2003-02-01). "How to distinguish between neglect and deprivational abuse". Archives of Disease in Childhood. 88 (2): 105–107. doi:10.1136/adc.88.2.105. ISSN 0003-9888. PMC 1719417. PMID 12538306.
  7. Myers, Linda Joy (2005). "Connecting the Past and the Present: Healing Abandonment and Abuse through Awareness" Archived 2014-11-01 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-01-31. Retrieved 2014-01-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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